The humble spud will be celebrated during the last week of January as part of Manitoba Potato Week.
This is the fifth year for the event, which puts a spotlight on Manitoba potato growers and a diverse range of dishes, said Pamela Kolochuk, chief executive officer of Peak of the Market.
“We work with restaurants and growers to put some attention to the potato and give people the ideas and ways they can eat potatoes that isn’t the simple mashed or baked,” said Kolochuk. “Our tagline is we celebrate potatoes, the growers that grow them and the restaurants that prepare them and the creativity that surrounds the potato and the ideas that come from it.”
Read Also
Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations
Ag in Motion highlights need for biosecurity on cattle farms. Government of Saskatchewan provides checklist on what you can do to make your cattle operation more biosecure.
The event hopes to attract 100 restaurants in the Brandon and Winnipeg areas to participate by coming up with unique spud dishes.
Some of the newer dishes include soups, doughnuts, ice cream and a potato-based pasta made of thinly sliced spuds.
“Manitoba grows the most acres of potatoes in Canada. We’re the largest fresh potato producer in Canada so to celebrate it and focus on it here makes the most sense because it’s a stable of our industry and something that we’re really proud of,” said Kolochuk.
Unlike southern Alberta, which primarily grows spuds for processing, and Prince Edward Island, which has a specialty in russet potatoes, Kolochuk said Manitoba’s focus is on yellow and red fresh potatoes. Although, she added, the province does produce processing potatoes for Old Dutch and McCain Foods.
However, it is the fresh potatoes that provide the creative cooking opportunities that increase the popularity of Potato Week in Manitoba.
“It’s gained a lot more attention,” said Kolochuk of the spud celebration. “We started off with 70 restaurants, last year we had over 100. This year we’re hoping to get to 100 again.”
Participating restaurants will be given 100 pounds of potatoes to come up with new recipes.
Kolochuk said the diverse dining scene in Winnipeg is especially good for making the best of the spud.
“It’s to bring attention to those restaurants and get people out and eating,” she said, adding the event hopes to spur people to get out to dining establishments once again following the pandemic restrictions.
“Bringing people back to restaurants and eating in restaurants is really important, especially in Manitoba.”
Kolochuk said events this year hope to get a younger crowd involved.
An updated listing of participating restaurants and the available dishes is available on the event’s website at potatoweek.com.
Participants are encouraged to vote on the province’s best potato dish with the restaurant with the highest rating receiving a potato-inspired trophy.
This year’s event is being held Jan. 20-29 to tie into Brandon’s Potato Days.
