Potatoes never used to be my thing, possibly because of the influence of my grandmother. At the most a size 8, she wouldn't dream of eating more than a couple of tiny new potatoes when they came into season. They were just too fattening, she said.

She lived in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, and in the summer we'd go with much excitement to dig up the first of the earlies from my uncle's walled garden near by. For me, the pleasure of finding them popping up like little white gems in the earth far outweighed the pleasure of eating them.

I have to admit that they were good simply boiled and dripping in Welsh butter and scattered with freshly-picked mint, sea salt and pepper, although they never really made the same impact as my grandmother's rich chocolate mousse.

Now I can't get enough of them, something that makes me marvel at how palates change over the years. I have gone from being a fussy eater to someone who enjoys eating almost everything I try.

And what better country to enjoy potatoes? Like Ireland, our soil and weather is perfectly suited to their cultivation. Unlike Ireland, until recently we had been steadily losing our interest in different varieties and, as with so many other ingredients, were being offered a smaller and smaller choice.

Potatoes also lost popularity thanks to regimens such as the Atkins diet and were all too often blamed for being high in calories when it was the cheese, butter, or double cream piled on top that contained them. And although they are full of useful vitamins and minerals, chains such as Spudulike, providing cheap, healthy fast food, were suddenly no longer in vogue.

Hopefully, the times are changing. I see more varieties of spuds than I've seen for years in the supermarkets, and am spoilt for choice at my local markets where different farms have been offering Cornish earlies, Arran Pilots and Maris Bards since May.

I love their flinty, sweet flavours in a salad such as this one in which the freshness of the herbs, onion, and cucumber contrasts with the silkiness of the dressing and the firm texture of the potatoes.

Buy gourmet food from Times Selects

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• How to season a wok
• Chicago Rib Shack hits back at its critics
• Gordon Ramsay: Indian barbecue