Country Life

Who is Maris Piper?

HER name is as familiar as any philosopher’s. She has been invoked time after time in supermarket aisles, cookery books and in a text from my mum: ‘Maris Pipers, 220˚F, bit of salt.’ Yet who is she—who exactly is Maris Piper?

The answer, it turns out, is less exciting than I had initially imagined. There I was, hoping for some kind of potato celebrity—a wholesome country hostess, perhaps, wearing a pinny, her sleeves rolled up, flour on her nose—but no. Maris Piper is not real. She was never a person—at least, the potato wasn’t named after anyone. (There may,

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Country Life

Country Life3 min read
Granite Country
AVAST mass of granite, the Cornubian Batholith, underpins much of the toe of England, manifesting itself in five areas (or plutons) of fierce, jagged outcrops on the bleak expanses of Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor, around the Cornish towns of Redruth and
Country Life9 min read
Town & Country
TURNS out the staff of COUNTRY LIFE can be quite interesting when we want to be. Editor Mark Hedges can currently be heard extolling the virtues of the countryside in Winkworth’s latest Property Exchange podcast, presented by Anne Ashworth. ‘It smell
Country Life3 min read
Yorkshire Millstone Grit
THE coarse and richly speckled millstone grit defines the central Pennines of God’s Own County, capping the limestone hills and providing rootage for purple- and pink-flowering bell heather. Extending east of Wharfedale and Coverdale, from Caldbergh

Related