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PGI — Nord-Pas-de-Calais
In French Flanders, beneath the grey skies of the North, the potato reigns as the golden queen of the silty plains.
Vegetable from Nord-Pas-de-Calais, PGI (IGP) since 1996.
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The Pomme de terre de Merville is born in the fertile Lys plain, in the heart of deep Nord, across the generous lands of Merville and its surroundings. Its production heartland lies in the north of the Hauts-de-France region, in the Lys valley, where it thrives in rich, clayey soil that gives it a high dry-matter content. This terroir has enabled the valley's growers to develop a crop that is today protected by a PGI.
In 1996, the Pomme de terre de Merville obtained its PGI. The specifications authorise only a single variety, the Bintje, emblematic of the Nord: this label formalises what farmers had long known — that the clay soil of the Lys valley produces a potato of exceptional quality, with floury flesh and an incomparable earthy taste, tailor-made for crispy chips and smooth mash.
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Only one variety bears the Merville PGI: the Bintje, undisputed star of chips and mash, with pale yellow, floury flesh. Its name stems from a curious story: in the early 20th century, a Dutch schoolteacher passionate about plant breeding named each of his new potatoes after one of his nine children — until the day when, running short of family names, he bred a tenth and dedicated it to a pupil in his class, Bintje Jansma. The harvest begins each year as early as spring with planting, and the tubers are stored in silos until sale, where they retain their flavour qualities intact.
Aspect
smooth, regular yellow skin, free from greening or blemishes. When cut, pale yellow flesh typical of the Bintje.
Aroma
discreet, earthy, evocative of the good clay soil of the Lys valley.
Taste
mild, mineral flavour characteristic of the northern Bintje. On the palate, it proves delicate, slightly sweet, with notes of hazelnut. No bitterness, no blandness — the purity of a tuber cultivated with respect.
Texture
floury, with a high dry-matter content — the texture that yields chips that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and a smooth mash.
Regularly mounding the soil around the plants to protect the tubers from light.
Controlled irrigation, crop rotation, and integrated plant protection in accordance with the PGI specifications.
In September–November, at the point of full maturity of the tubers.
Removal of non-standard sizes, greened or damaged tubers.
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The Merville Bintje is reserved for generous mashes, creamy soups, and tartiflette bases where its floury nature creates that dreamily smooth texture — and of course for chips, fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside, its historic calling.
Ideal for carbonnades flamandes (where it soaks up the brown beer sauce), Sunday moules-frites, and Catholic Friday fish gratins.
The 'Pommes de terre de Merville' PGI is single-variety: only the Bintje, an emblematic northern variety created in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20th century, is authorised by the specifications. Its floury flesh with a high starch content makes it the benchmark for chips and mash; it is the clay soil of the Lys valley, and that alone, which distinguishes the Merville Bintje from Bintje grown elsewhere in France.
Since: 1996
Area covered: 43 communes in the Lys valley (Nord and Pas-de-Calais)
Key requirements: Variety: Bintje exclusively. Soil: clayey, rich in dry matter. Defence and management organisation: association La Belle Bintje du Terroir (Richebourg, 62).
Association
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