Oamaru Jersey Bennies - Otago Potato

Ask any south islander - where the best potato's come from ... and they will say 'Oamaru Jersey Bennies'.

It is almost a religion... the Jersey Bennie is bought in boxes - and must be fresh.. you tell this by gently scrapping the potato with your finger nail. The father in law - also squeezes them to make sure they are firm... he is very particular with his Bennie's!


Basically gently wash off the dirt with warm water - and boil with mint - and you too will be a convert.

By the way Fisher and Paykel (believe it or not) have a smashing recipe including Bennie's below:

http://ourkitchen.fisherpaykel.com/2009/11/smashed-new-potatoes-with-grilled-asparagus/

Comments

Anonymous said…
Rare Earth, the ones in your photo, are the best of the best.

You can see where they're grown at: http://www.rareearth.co.nz/
tim said…
They are terrible, bought a one kilo box at $6-00 for Christmas, green and tasted bitter, rip off, if that is south island's best? Well shove them where the sun don't shine!!!
tim said…
They are terrible, bought a one kilo box at $6-00 for Christmas, green and tasted bitter, rip off, if that is south island's best? Well shove them where the sun don't shine!!!
Tom said…
3 xmas years in a row I have brought a small box, every year disgusting, green and bitter.
this year I opened the box to check if ripe, looked good but as soon as i prepared them they were green. They taste foul and i would like my money back. My opinion is they are harvesting them to early for the xmas season. I still have the awful taste in my mouth from trying one, it lingers. Agree with Tim. Jersey Bennies era is long gone. Bring them out when they are ready like the stone fruit picked too early, nasty!
Unknown said…
I brought a box of Gourmet Fresh Oamaru Jersey Bennes from Pak N Save a few days ago. Thought I would get some quality potatoes for Xmas dinner. Wrong. They don't peel by using the finger. You have to scrape them. They partly fall apart on boiling. And left after cooking for a short time they go black. Disgusting. If this is the "Finest New Seasons Potatoes" as said on the box. Never again.
Gillian Sellick said…
I bought one box of Jersey Benne potatoes from Pak'n'Save on Dec 4 2019 "on Special" at $4.49, and was very pleased with the potatoes I used. However, on taking the balance out of this box about 10 minutes ago I found one potato completely rotten. I purchased a second box on 11 December at $5.89, which I opened immediately after emptying the first box, and found 3 rotten potatoes and two which had green on them. Quite frankly this is not good enough. Do I have any recourse?
Kevin D said…
I won't purchase those potatoes anymore from Pak n Save. Too many green ones, hard to peel. Not what you should expect in a New Potato.
kathyt said…
I wont be purchasing them again - all tiny ones on bottom of box - not like the advertising on the box
Anonymous said…
I bought a box of gourmetfresh from Paknsave in Christchurch, two were black with white mould, one was going mouldy where it had been scraped by something. Some were soft, some were very small. Fortunately I had some other potatoes which did for Christmas Day. I certainly won't be buying Oamaru potatoes again.
Anonymous said…
Hello: We bought 1 kg a box of these so-called Gourmet Fresh potatoes at Pak 'n Save only to find that a huge amount of dried soil remained attached to the potatoes, possibly weighing as much as 1 or 2 large potatoes. A total rip-off. Will never buy again. Wendy from Nelson
Unknown said…
Hello I bought a box of your gourmet potatoes only to find I have 4 small potatoes and the of the rest box consists of 8.23 grms of very large potatoes very dissatisfied with them will never buy anymore again Ron from waikanae
We recently bought a box of your Jersey Benney potatoes. We have bought boxed potatoes from other suppliers in the past. The box of your potatoes could only be described as a box of marbles. I could not believe how small they were, many being only a little larger than my thumb nail! In fact I could really describe them as a rip off! If I was growing my own potatoes now I would hardly even consider saving most of them. We are hardly likely to buy boxed potatoes again where one can't see what you are actually buying.
Peter Tucker, Hastings.
Bruce said…
Very disappointed in these Oamaru Jersey Bennes potatoes. Fall part when you boil them. Went hard when we roasted them. Not great taste at all. Second box we’ve tried and no better. Will not buy again.
Jenny said…
I grow them. Yummy but they need to be eaten the day after digging them up or they go green.