Purple is a majestic colour and has pizzazz, which explains why royalty have cherished the colour for many years. We have become used to purple-hued food – think plums, grapes, brinjals, violets, figs, blueberries, blackberries, cassis, and even the occasional sighting of a head of purple broccoli and the odd cauliflower – but a bowl of creamed mauve potatoes does come as quite a shock. Well, it did to me, anyway. ?

The purple potatoes were very strange; they didn’t warm my soul and certainly didn’t look too good on the plate with my chicken casserole (probably not a good Mother’s Day dish to make, then). They seemed a bit artificial-looking, and sort of reminded me of gentian violet hair dyes. ?

Luckily I have since had a great eating experience of the purple potato. Chef and restaurateur Luke Dale-Roberts came to the recue with a delicious dish of trout with purple potatoes. They somehow magically worked in this dish, maybe because they weren't mashed (like my attempt), or it could be that his flavours, textures and colour combinations are pure genius. ?

I had a good giggle when I overheard a colleague at work, when seeing this recipe, say, ‘These potatoes must be dyed’. ?

Another newish purple food that looks really great on the plate is the carrot. There are yellow and white ones too, which are available now at Woolworths. ?

Just last week Reuben was telling me that a farmer at La Motte in Franschhoek is growing them, so I’m sure we will see more of them being creatively executed on chefs’ plates soon. ?

Talking about veggies, I had really good new taste experience at Fyndraai at Solms Delta in Franschhoek the other day. Chef Shaun slightly wilted some spekboom, which I had only ever eaten raw, and I really enjoyed his new take on it. It is a local plant, and has a vibrant green flat leaf that has a slightly lemony taste. Maybe it’s the new broad bean???

Happy cooking! 
Abigail

Cook’s note: Luke’s trout and potato salad is in the new issue of Woolworths TASTE. (The pink one that smells of cinnamon.)

Photograph: Vasenka