Northern Britain's Potato Renaissance

. The potato has always been a standard in British cuisine. Even a single spud could make a good dinner.Brits are discovering this all over and falling in love again with what they call jacketed potatoes. This classic is being updated to suit a multicultural north.

New contributor and British food critic Jimi Famurewa wrote about this new craze in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. Selling hot potatoes is nothing new in the UK. Street stands started popping up selling roasted potatoes doused with plenty of butter and pepper. They were warmed in ornately decorated cans feeding everyone from the rich to the poor. In the 1970s and 80's they came into the public eye again thanks to a Scottish line called Spudulike.It had more than forty franchises offering baked potatoes with such diverse toppings as stuffed shrimp and beef chili. When the company went bankrupt in 2019 the baked potato was consigned to out of the way eateries and provincial one person operations. Enter Spudmans run by Jacob and Harley Nelson, two brothers along with their father Tony. with canny social media knowhow they took a decidedly unsexy tuber and turned it into a  glamorous star, Their single food truck has nearly five million followers on Tiktok along with millions of Instagram and You Tube. Even Queen Camilla has helped out in one. They now have included four brick and mortar stores with an outpost in Amsterdam

Another company SpudBros along with Spudman have modernized and refined this simple recipe, They added flavored butters along with crispy onions. There are also Chinese salt and pepper chicken and shave doner kebab. There is also that Brit classic baked beans that almost smother the potato and the odd choice of tuna salad. They can get a mix of these along with Cole slaw, chili, and three cheese mix. Another plus is that the dishes are relatively cheap for such a filling meal. SpudBros starts at about six American dollars  for a filled spud. However it's also the warmth of the brothers that have customers returning ,ANother spud seller, Ben Newman has the kind of personality that draws people in.The Nelsons disarm people with Lancastrian banter  and embrace their local folk hero status. They even have a short sponsorship deal with a local soccer team Preston North End. and even giving passing children ice cream money There's no pretense in their food or attitude. They're just one of the blokes. Funny enough the Irish branch of Subway has jumped on this and now sells their own version of filled spuds.

Potatoes will always be a part of the British diet. Yet thanks to Spudman and SPud Bros it's taking on a more elevated turn. They 're trendy in their deliciousness.