Mmmmmm…New(er) Potatoes

The first new potatoes are being harvested up in Maine this month. And by "new," we don't mean those waxy red specimens of indeterminate age often marketed as such. Just-dug spuds have a relatively high moisture content and tissue-thin skin, which makes them ideal for potato salads. Chef Tim Wiechmann of Cambridge's T. W. Food gets his from a farmer in Limington, Maine, who grows a mix of banana, fingerling, and red New Orleans varieties and shuttles them to Wiechmann's kitchen within days of harvest. "You can eat young potatoes with their skin, which is pleasant, because there's a lot of flavor there," says the chef, who likes to serve them in a salad with smoked mussels. "The flesh is sweeter, with a potato perfume - they're almost floral."

377 Walden St., Cambridge, 617-864-4745, twfoodrestaurant.com. Fresh new potatoes from Sparrow Arc Farm in Troy, Maine, are available at Plum Produce, 106 Waltham St., Boston, 617-423-7586, plumproduce.com