The Red Pontiac (also known as Dakota Chief) is a red-skinned early main crop

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

originally bred in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

,Paul R. Wonning and is sold in the United States,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Australia,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. It arose as a color mutant of the original Pontiac variety in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

by a J.W. Weston in 1945. It was registered by the USDA in 1983. The original Pontiac itself was a hybrid of varieties "Triumph" and "Katahdin" and released in the US in 1938 and Australia in 1940. The plants are large and spreading with angled stems and large light purple flowers. The potatoes are deep-eyed and round with dark red skin and white waxy flesh, though can be knobbly if soil moisture is uneven. The skin colour can fade significantly, leaving only the eyes as red.

Cooking

It can be used in recipes for baking, boiling, mashing, roasting or in salads, and can be cooked in a microwave oven.Barker, p. 61 It is not so suitable for frying. Red potatoes may be cooked with the skin on, and should be scrubbed and rinsed before preparation.

Cooking

References

Further reading