The Bamberg potato (german: Bamberger Hörnla) is an old potato variety from

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

. It takes its name from the town of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

. It is a small, typically long and irregularly shaped potato with a waxy texture. The Bamberg has firm, light yellow flesh with a nutty flavour. It is grown only in Southern Germany and is protected by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

as a regional speciality. It was about to become extinct as cultivation is very laborious and the yield is rather low. It is little grown commercially by farmers but people do grow it in gardens for home use. Outside its area of origin, the Bamberg can be bought in

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

shops, from specialised traders,

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

s, and in organic grocery stores. Freshplaza chose it as its ''potato of the year'' for 2008.

References

{{Potato cultivars Potato cultivars