Cherie Potato Supplier

Quick Overview

Cherie is an exceptionally versatile red-skinned potato variety prized for its attractive appearance and excellent culinary qualities. This medium-starch potato features smooth, vibrant red skin and creamy white flesh that retains its shape well during cooking. Originally bred for the fresh market, Cherie has gained popularity among both home cooks and professional chefs for its balanced texture and mild, buttery flavor. The tubers are uniformly oval with shallow eyes, making them easy to wash and prepare with minimal waste. Cherie potatoes maintain their eye-catching red color even after cooking, adding visual appeal to dishes. This variety shows good resistance to common diseases and adapts well to various growing conditions.

Origin & History

Developed in the Netherlands during the late 1990s, Cherie was specifically bred to combine visual appeal with reliable culinary performance. Breeders crossed traditional European red potatoes with high-yielding varieties to create this successful commercial cultivar. The variety was introduced to compete with other red-skinned potatoes like Desiree, offering improved disease resistance and cooking qualities. Cherie quickly gained popularity across European markets before expanding to North America and Asia in the early 2000s. Today it remains a favorite choice for supermarkets and farm stands due to its consistent quality and consumer appeal. The variety’s name “Cherie” (French for “darling”) reflects its market position as a beloved, premium table potato.

Specifications

Cherie potatoes typically contain 14-17% starch content, placing them in the medium-starch category suitable for versatile cooking. The tubers are medium-sized, averaging 100-180 grams, with an oval to round shape and very shallow eyes. The skin is thin but durable, with a distinctive deep red color that resists scuffing during harvest and handling. The white flesh is firm and moist, with a specific gravity of 1.080-1.085, ideal for both moist and dry heat cooking methods. Cherie matures in 90-110 days and shows good resistance to common scab, blackspot, and moderate resistance to late blight.

Key Characteristics

1. Visual Appeal: The vibrant red skin and uniform shape make Cherie highly marketable for fresh sales.
2. Versatile Texture: Medium starch content provides a balanced texture – waxy enough for salads yet fluffy when roasted.
3. Flavor Profile: Delicate, slightly sweet flavor with buttery notes that enhance without overpowering dishes.
4. Cooking Performance: Excellent color retention and shape stability during boiling, steaming, and roasting.
5. Agricultural Traits: Relatively drought-tolerant plants with good yield consistency (typically 25-35 tons/hectare).

Best Uses

Cherie is primarily an all-around table potato excelling in virtually every fresh market application. Its balanced starch content makes it perfect for boiling (especially in potato salads), steaming, and roasting, where it develops a delicious golden crust. While not ideal for industrial chip production due to its red skin, Cherie makes excellent home-style chips and fries when prepared fresh. The variety is particularly valued for holiday dishes and gourmet preparations where appearance matters. Some processors use Cherie for premium canned or vacuum-packed potato products. It’s generally not used for starch production due to its medium starch levels and higher value as a fresh product.