Chips are down: you are in for a roasting

DurIng the time I worked at a farm shop, you’d never believe the conversations I had about potatoes. It would start when the first new potatoes arrived and we would put a big sign that read: ‘Egyptian new potatoes.’ A customer would be guaranteed to say: ‘They’re not English, are they?’ A few weeks later, the English ones would arrive. ‘Oh, aren’t they expensive!’ The next day they would be back. ‘Oh, they haven’t gone down yet, then?’ After a while it would be: ‘Oh, the potatoes are getting bigger, do they still scrape?’ Then we’d have a new variety. ‘never heard of them. They don’t all go to water, do they?’ As the potatoes got older and bigger, the questions would change: ‘Do they make good jackets?’ ‘Do they chip well? ‘Are they good for roasting?’ ‘If I buy a sack, will they all be the size of marbles?’ Sometimes I would hear myself repeating the same answer over and over again. I felt sure my brain had turned to mash. I would come home from work exhausted and plonk myself down on the sofa. Oh no! I’d turned into a couch potato! ‘What’s for dinner, mum? Can we have bangers and mash?’ go away!

Mrs Rose Beer, Sandwich, Kent.