News was thin on the ground in Broughton today, or if it wasn't, no-one at the Spurtle had time to pick it up.
Under the ground, though, it was not so much thin as knobbly.
This remarkable pink fir apple potato was recently harvested in a fertile strip of ground behind Drummond Place and Scotland Street.
Pink fir apples were first imported from France in the mid-19th century, but remained popular here among spud enthusiasts long after their peculiar shapes lost them admirers on the Continent.
They are still prized for their waxy texture and yellow flesh, and are apparently very good when thinly sliced and lightly sautéed in butter and garlic until golden brown.
Pink fir apples are famous for their odd bulges. In the photograph top-right, for instance, this example resembles a semi-inflated tropical puffer-fish swimming from right to left. In the photograph below, however, viewed from a different angle, the same specimen is the spitting image of a baby sealion riding on the back of an enormous aquatic mushroom.
In recent times, when crossed with Desirées, they have been called Lady Anya’s, in honour of Lady Sainsbury, to whom they bear no resemblance whatsoever.
