Purple fleshed kumara?

freshstart88, Jan 26, 3:38am
I just bought what i presumed were kumara from the vege shop, cut it open, and it's a dark dark purple! Have i bought a completely different vegetable or is this a variety of kumara!

davidt4, Jan 26, 4:53am
I haven't run across these - they sound interesting.

This has reminded me to seek opinions about the price of kumara these days.At Fruit World they cost $7.99 per kg and at Countdown the other day I saw them priced at $8.99.Anyone know why they are now so expensive!Anyone here from Dargaville or other kumara-growing areas!What do they cost locally!

rainrain1, Jan 26, 5:14am
cook it, taste it, and then you might know, but it sounds kumeraish to me

dezzie, Jan 26, 5:15am
it could be a maori potato.some of those are purple inside.

Davidt, I think the price of kumara is a seasonal thing and the ones we are getting now are the last of last years ones.not 100% sure when they start digging them (this is just my guess, I could of course be totally wrong)

griffo4, Jan 26, 6:09am
This seasons ones are due to be in the shops anytime soon and the kumara sheds are all empty at present which is good for the growers
There was a write up about it in the local paper the other day

Some beetroot almost look like kumara so l would cook and taste it as above

camper18, Jan 26, 8:03am
We live in the kumara capital and like griffo4 said there isn't a kumara to be had up here for another week or two until the new season ones come on stream. Took a heap to the Sth Is before xmas to give to friends as they were only $1 a kilo ony to come home and find I can't buy any for myself.

macwood2, Jan 26, 10:20am
I have bought these not realising they were not the Beauregard variety.They taste nice enough, I just don't find them that appealing visually.

_rob_, Jan 26, 11:04am
OTab, Talking about produce, the price there of and things that go bump in the night.Total shock the other day in countdown went to buy some 'Kiwi'fruit only to find a lil sticker on it announcing "Produce of the USA" wtf!

dms01, Jan 26, 11:27am
Look closer at the produce section. Read those little labels. The really small ones. The supermarkets are content to have you believe that most of the stuff was grown in NZ. The truth is, if something is available out of its NZ season, it either wasn't grown here or it was grown in a hothouse. Kiwifruit are imported both from the USA and Italy out of the NZ season. Citrus, strawberries, from USA and Australia. Capsicums from oz. Snowpeas from Zimbabwe ffs. Grapes from Chile or USA. My pet hate - sometimes we import iceberg lettuce that was grown in California. Frozen veg also watch out - some brands of oven fries are made in the Netherlands, that's a long way to ship a frozen piece of potato imho, and frozen spinach is usually from either the Netherlands or China.

uli, Jan 26, 9:30pm
Beauregard is orange inside not purple.

We grow the purple sweet potatoes too - but everybody tells me different names for it - maybe I can find out for you what they are called.

Defintely a kumara though not a potato. The purple potatoes are called Urenika.

mkbooks, Jan 26, 10:35pm
In a supermarket, we can't buy a NZ table grape ever, even when they are at the height of the season. NZ produce is a joke-we get whatever the Oz businessmen who control our food supplies, will let us have. Farmers' markets the only way to get fresh NZ stuff

dreamers, Jan 26, 11:26pm
New World in Auckland had NZ table grapes last week,they looked really soft and horrible.

exposed_media, Jan 27, 12:02am
The purple variety are Maori spuds.

uli, Jan 27, 5:36am
They are called Urenika.

The question was about a purple fleshed sweet potato and they DO exist.

samanya, Jan 27, 5:57am
Actually that's not correct.
freshstart88 thought she had bought a dark purple kumera but is now questioning whether it is, or not.
I grow Maori potatoes & I'd suspect that this is indeed what freshstart88 has purchased, as she has described them perfectly & as others have said, kumera are not quite ready yet.
As others have suggested, cook & try is the best option.

davidt4, Jan 27, 6:13am
Here is a link to a whole lot of photos of purple sweet potatoes.Maybe freshstart88can identify hers/his from these.

https://www.google.co.nz/search!q=purple+sweet+potato&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=9cQEUeCVJsTdigfqrYGQBg&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1244&bih=856

samanya, Jan 27, 7:24am