Tuffelrud

Research card draft

La Ratte

Also Ratte, Asparges, Ratte du Touquet, La Reine

From
France or Denmark (both are given)
When
Late 19th century; a German show label gives France 1872
Bred or kept by
unknown
Parents
none recorded
How sure
origin partly
Shape
small, slender, long-oval fingerling, often slightly curved like a crescent
Proportion
2.6 times as long as wide, measured from photos
Size
unknown
Bend
slight
Knobs
slight
Skin
pale yellow to golden, speckled, smooth
Flesh
yellow
Eyes
shallow, yellow (same as skin)
Dormancy
medium
Flesh type
waxy
Health
Low yield; nearly lost to accumulated virus (seed degeneration), a common fate of clonally propagated varieties. ECPD: low hollow-heart tendency, high resistance to internal bruising, moderate storage ability.
The name
French ratte, 'little rat' or female rat, usually explained by the small, long shape. Explanation is common in food writing; no primary source found.
Protected names
Ratte du Touquet. Told here as facts; never used as a character's name.

The colour swatches are the flat colours the drawings use, read from photos and lifted to even daylight; the card says how.

What it looks like. A small, slender fingerling, about two and a half times as long as wide, often curved into a slight crescent, with smooth pale yellow to golden skin and yellow, firm flesh. Measured on the La Ratte sack photo (ratios about 2.3 to 2.7) and the INRA field photo, which also shows the odd lumpy one. Skin sampled #E1C18D and #CFA16B on the sack photo under warm indoor light; card #DCBC86.

History. A 19th-century salad potato from France or Denmark, nobody is sure which. It came close to dying out because virus built up in the seed tubers generation after generation, and it was revived in the 1960s. It became famous through the chef Joël Robuchon's potato purée.

Names. La Ratte is the cultivar and may be used. "Ratte du Touquet" is reported to be a growers' trademark; never use it for a character, a product or anything sold.

Body facts that carry story. Small and sleek; waxy, so it keeps its shape; came back from near extinction.

Where sources disagree

origin.country

France

Denmark

How we settled it: Unresolved; both Wikipedia and ECPD give both. The Danish link is the synonym Asparges. The Norwegian gene bank's Asparges/Sparris potato may be related (NIBIO: origin unknown, long, with marked 'eyebrows'), not checked.

origin.year or era

Atlas: nearly vanished by 1934, reintroduced 1965

Search summary of a French travel site: one surviving plant regenerated at Le Touquet in 1962 by André Hennuyer

How we settled it: Unresolved. Card keeps 'nearly lost, then revived in the 1960s'; dates need a primary French source.

eye depth

ECPD: values from deep to shallow across contributing sources

Atlas and photos: shallow

How we settled it: Shallow: every photo shows a smooth fingerling with shallow eyes.

Still unknown

  • Breeder and true origin.
  • Whether 'Ratte du Touquet' is a registered trademark or any EU geographical indication. Listed as protected to be safe until checked.
  • Size in cm: photos have no scale.

Sources

  • en.wikipedia.org: originated in Denmark or France in the late 19th century; also La Ratte, La Reine, Ratte du Touquet, Asparges; small, nutty, buttery; ovate, often slightly curved, golden speckled skin; golden yellow flesh that holds its texture; Robuchon's purée; low yields, hand-harvested
  • europotato.org: ECPD: synonyms Asparges, La Ratte; Denmark and France; skin white to yellow; eye colour yellow; flesh yellow; long-oval to very long; eye depth recorded from deep to shallow across sources; smooth; small; low yield; dormancy medium; firm (salad type)
  • france-voyage.com: (via search summary; page blocked to direct fetch) origin claimed in the Lyonnais and Ardèche; saved in 1962 by grower André Hennuyer at Le Touquet; 'La Ratte du Touquet' a registered trademark of a growers' group; a label claim this card does not accept without a primary source

Reference photos

Used to read proportion and colour, credited here, and never traced or copied into the drawings.