Irish 'Potatoes' from See's Candies and Oh Ryan's
When Serious Eaters gathered around to examine the See's Candies catalog last week, one thing popped out: a St. Patrick's Day Potato.
A potato? As in, the dirt is actually cocoa powder and cinnamon, and the white inside part is nougat chewiness, basically white chocolate fudge, with "English" walnuts, says the ingredients list. (Do not tell the Irish.) A few pine nuts on top for that realistic "eyes of the potato" look.
We got our hands on some (thanks, Mom!). They're really just brown lumps, unassuming brown lumps—and probably the most caloric unassuming brown lumps pretending to be potatoes you'll find. Twenty grams of fat for a 2.5 ounce lump.
But the West Coast confectionery See's shouldn't get all the credit for the spud trompe l'oeil. Just outside Philadelphia in Linwood, Pennsylvania, Oh Ryan's ships about 80,000 pounds of these spud-candies per year, mostly within the state. It's a Philly-area tradition that spans back 100 years, also made from scratch by rolling balls of cream cheese, butter, coconut, and powdered sugar in cinnamon.
File this under another Americanism that Irish people in Ireland probably have no clue about.
See's Candies Irish potatoes are $17 for six individually wrapped potatoes (2.5 ounces each). Visit a location or order online. Oh Ryan's potatoes are $4.25 per seven-ounce box (plus $6 for shipping up to six boxes). Oh Ryan's will be making UPS shipments until 5 p.m. today. Call 610-494-7123.
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14 Comments:
Erin: Here's another Potato food too!
At Christmas Time I always get Marzipankartoffel [translation = marzipan potatoes] made with balls of almond paste rolled in cocoa powder! One of the best parts of my christmas is marzipan!
hungrychristel at 2:16PM on 03/17/09
Unassuming as See's might be, I yes, please.
Was that a limerick?
No?
What if I change the front to green and clover-leaf my eyes?
healthygirl78 at 2:16PM on 03/17/09
I might "I"s, though my typo strangely makes sense to me right now...
Probably not a good sign.
healthygirl78 at 2:18PM on 03/17/09
What about the oh so wonderful Idaho Spud? It may not be Irish but its pretend potatoe-y goodness I think makes it worthy of this day. A giant marshmallow dipped in chocolate then rolled in toasted coconut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_Spud
veggieout at 2:54PM on 03/17/09
See's Candies....worth a trip out west just to load up a suitcase with it.
kathyvegas at 4:11PM on 03/17/09
I ate 1 million Oh Ryan's Irish Potatoes growing up and I still love them. I had no idea until this year that Irish Potato candies were not well known outside of PA. Today I was down at the decidedly not-Irish Italian Market, but my favorite candy shop there, Anthony's Chocolate House, does carry their own house-made Irish potatoes and they are pretty good.
Joy Manning at 4:22PM on 03/17/09
I had definitely never heard of Irish Potatoes til I moved to Philly, but here they are totally pervasive.
jm chen at 4:28PM on 03/17/09
I'm from South Jersey, and Irish Potatoes will always have a special place in my heart. Them Northerners thinks we crazy for eating such things. I reckon their one of the most fantastic things about St. Patrick's day other than Irish Soda Bread.
wanderingfoodie at 4:43PM on 03/17/09
Did you like them Erin? What was the taste combination like?
cybele at 6:35PM on 03/17/09
@cybele: As a salty lover, I think I'd prefer a real potato. But it's not bad! If only all dirt was made of cinnamon and chocolate.
Erin Zimmer at 7:01PM on 03/17/09
I make these with cream cheese, coconut and 1 mashed potato. Anything else is poser candy. Nougat? Walnuts? Please.
JerzeeTomato at 7:04PM on 03/17/09
Thanks Erin! I've always wanted to try them (but I'm allergic to walnuts). How many candies actually use pine nuts ... that's kind of what drew me to them.
cybele at 1:58AM on 03/18/09
I definitely saw these on Sees' website. I had a giftcard to spend and considered buying one but their truffles lured me instead.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:53AM on 03/18/09
I hate to see that those Oh Ryans are like eating bricks! If you are in Central NJ or Philly, you should know about EMERALD CONFECTIONS! The lady there makes them all by hand and they are smooth, creamy, fresh and offers 5 different varieties that are to die for! Visit her website:
www.emeraldconfections.com. They are soooooo worth it!
Jersey Jill at 2:25PM on 03/18/09