A · Firm / waxy
Stays in one piece
Potato salad, boiling whole, soups with distinct pieces, tidy gratin slices, rösti that should bind.
firm · waxy · salad · boiling · kogefast
The short answer · Denmark
Yukon Gold is a behaviour, not a border.
A yellow-fleshed, middle-of-the-road potato: creamy enough to mash, firm enough to keep some shape. In Denmark, start with Folva — then let the dish overrule you.
Take me to the market
Buy the texture the recipe needs
Variety names change at borders. Cooking behaviour does not. Every bag in the world sits somewhere on this one scale.
B · All-purpose
The Yukon Gold zone
Everyday roasting, creamy mash, casseroles, soups, wedges — anything that does not need an extreme.
all-purpose · yellow · type B · slightly floury
C · Floury / starchy
Breaks into fluff
Airy mash, baked potatoes, gnocchi, croquettes, crisp roast edges, thickening a soup by accident.
floury · mealy · starchy · baking · melet
Skin colour is not evidence. Red, yellow, and brown skins each cover the whole scale. So do season, soil, and how long the sack sat in the shop.
The market decoder
What do I buy where I live?
Showing the Denmark buying guide.
If the recipe says Yukon Gold
Buy Folva first.
The safest Danish one-bag substitute: it is sold for boiling, mash, baking, and wedges all at once. Maya is the other broad option; Melody leans usefully toward mash and baking.
- A · keep shape
- Sava, Ditta, or Santera; bags marked kogning or kartoffelsalat
- B · middle
- Folva, Maya — look for several uses printed on the bag
- C · more fluffy
- Melody, or a bag marked til mos / melede kartofler
Danish reality: use labels and stocked varieties rotate. If the bag lists both boiling and mash, you are in Yukon Gold territory.
Closest everyday buy
Fast potatis, Bintje, or Asterix
These cover the firmer side of Yukon Gold. For mash or a fluffy roast, move to mjölig potatis; King Edward is the familiar floury example.
- A · keep shape
- Fast potatis
- B · middle
- Bintje, Asterix, or a multi-use bag
- C · more fluffy
- Mjölig potatis, often King Edward
Swedish bags are unusually honest about texture. Trust the word before the variety name.
Closest everyday buy
Asterix or Folva
Both sit on the shape-holding side and cover most everyday dishes. Choose Pimpernel when the recipe is heading toward mash, soup, or a softer roast.
- A · keep shape
- Kokefast — Asterix, Folva, Beate
- B · middle
- Asterix or Folva, adjusted by dish
- C · more fluffy
- Melen — Pimpernel, Kerrs Pink, Mandelpotet
Mandelpotet is a treat, not a substitute. Do not mash it out of existence.
Finland made this easy
Yleisperuna · the yellow code
The yellow-coded general-purpose category is simply the Yukon Gold zone, printed on the bag. Matilda, Asterix, and Van Gogh are examples.
- A · keep shape
- Kiinteä · green — Siikli, Nicola
- B · middle
- Yleisperuna · yellow
- C · more fluffy
- Jauhoinen · red — Rosamunda, Puikula
A three-colour code beats a hundred variety names. Every country should copy this.
Closest everyday buy
Vorwiegend festkochend
This “mainly firm-cooking” middle category is the clearest functional translation of Yukon Gold.
- A · keep shape
- Festkochend
- B · middle
- Vorwiegend festkochend
- C · more fluffy
- Mehligkochend
The word is longer than the potato. Read the last third of it.
Closest everyday buy
Vrij vastkokend or iets kruimig
These labels sit between intact and crumbly. They work like an all-purpose yellow potato in most recipes.
- A · keep shape
- Vastkokend
- B · middle
- Vrij vastkokend / iets kruimig
- C · more fluffy
- Kruimig / zeer kruimig
Dutch shelves grade by behaviour, not romance. Nobody is selling you a story.
Closest everyday buy
Polyvalente or “four & purée”
French bags often sell the use more clearly than the starch level. A multi-use yellow variety such as Monalisa or Bintje is a practical starting point.
- A · keep shape
- Chair ferme; vapeur / salade
- B · middle
- Polyvalente; four / rissolées
- C · more fluffy
- Chair farineuse; purée / frites
The bag names the dish, not the type. If it says purée, believe it.
Closest everyday buy
All-rounder or smooth potato
Yukon Gold itself may be sold. Otherwise choose an all-rounder such as Desiree. Maris Piper is flourier: excellent for mash, chips, and roasties, less faithful for salad.
- A · keep shape
- Salad / waxy; Charlotte
- B · middle
- All-rounder / smooth; Desiree
- C · more fluffy
- Fluffy; Maris Piper, King Edward
“Baking potato” on a British shelf is a texture claim, not advice about the oven.
Closest everyday buy
Rooster
Rooster is the readily understood Irish all-rounder and has yellow, floury flesh. It is a little fluffier than Yukon Gold, so use a waxier potato when slices must stay exact.
- A · keep shape
- Waxy / salad potato
- B · middle
- Rooster
- C · more fluffy
- Kerrs Pink, Golden Wonder, Maris Piper
Ireland has opinions about potatoes. Rooster is the one nobody argues with.
Closest everyday buy
Monalisa / multi-use
Monalisa is a useful yellow, semi-waxy all-rounder. Choose Agria when the Yukon Gold recipe is really about frying or crisp roast edges.
- A · keep shape
- Para cocer / para cozer
- B · middle
- Multiusos; Monalisa
- C · more fluffy
- Para freír; Agria
If the bag says para freír, it has already decided what you are cooking.
Closest everyday buy
Patate a pasta gialla, all-purpose
Yellow-fleshed multi-use potatoes are the practical match. For gnocchi or very airy mash, ignore the colour shortcut and choose a bag marked floury.
- A · keep shape
- Sode / a pasta compatta
- B · middle
- A pasta gialla / per tutti gli usi
- C · more fluffy
- Farinose; for purè / gnocchi
Gnocchi is the one dish where yellow flesh will not save you. Buy farinose.
Closest everyday buy
Cooking type B
The letter is more dependable than a translated variety name. Type B is general-purpose: firm after cooking but easy to crush with a fork.
- A · keep shape
- A / AB · Polish sałatkowy
- B · middle
- B / AB-B · Polish ogólnoużytkowy; Czech/Slovak varný typ B
- C · more fluffy
- C / BC · Polish mączysty
One letter, no marketing. Central Europe solved this and told nobody.
Closest everyday buy
Yukon Gold or yellow potato
Yukon Gold is the named variety. Supermarket “yellow potatoes” are often sold as the same practical category, though the exact cultivar may differ.
- A · keep shape
- Waxy, red, new, or fingerling potato
- B · middle
- Yukon Gold / yellow potato
- C · more fluffy
- Russet / Idaho / baking potato
You already have it. The rest of the world had to write a guide about you.
Closest everyday buy
All-purpose potato
Follow the end-use label first. In New Zealand, Rua, Moonlight, Vivaldi Gold, Frisia, Ilam Hardy, Maris Anchor, and Desiree are listed as all-purpose examples.
- A · keep shape
- Waxy / smooth / boiling / salad
- B · middle
- All-purpose / between smooth and fluffy
- C · more fluffy
- Floury / fluffy / roasting / mashing
The label tells you the dish. Read it before you read the variety name.
Say this at the market
“A yellow, medium-starch, all-purpose potato.”
If that does not translate, name the dish: “one that roasts but does not completely fall apart,” or “one that makes creamy, not fluffy, mash.”
- A · keep shape
- Ask for salad or boiling potatoes
- B · middle
- Ask for everyday or all-purpose potatoes
- C · more fluffy
- Ask for mash, baking, or frying potatoes
Nobody has ever been thrown out of a market for asking which potato falls apart.
Read the next verb before you buy
Move firmer
Denmark: Sava, Ditta, Santera. Elsewhere: type A / firm / waxy.
Stay in the middle
Denmark: Folva or Maya. Elsewhere: type B / all-purpose.
Middle, leaning soft
Folva, Melody, Maya. Go floury only if drier and lighter is welcome.
Forget “Yukon”, go floury
The technique wants low moisture far more than yellow colour.
Middle to floury
More starch, crisper edges. A frying label beats a perfect name match.
Keep enough structure
Firm, or the firmer half of all-purpose, so the shape survives the tongs.
Four names you will keep meeting
Translate to “balanced”
In Denmark, begin with Folva. Elsewhere, choose type B, all-purpose, slightly floury, or the middle label used locally.
Translate to “floury”
Buy a baking or mashing potato: type C, mehligkochend, mjölig, jauhoinen, or the local equivalent.
Translate to “firm or waxy”
Buy salad or boiling potatoes: type A, festkochend, fast, or Sava/Ditta in Denmark.
Translate by shape and texture
Look for small waxy salad potatoes, ratte/aspargeskartofler, or another long firm variety. “New potatoes” are a seasonal fallback, not the same cultivar.
When the bag tells you nothing
Cook one before you commit the whole sack
- 01Simmer one potato until a knife reaches the centre without argument.
- 02Cut it. Clean moist slice = firm. Feathered edges = middle. Cracks and crumbs = floury.
- 03Write the variety down. Names drift with season and storage. Your own note still beats the skin colour.
Evidence & limits
A practical translation, not a claim of identical varieties
Yukon Gold, Folva, and every named alternative are distinct cultivars. The recommendations match cooking behaviour and common retail language. Harvest timing, soil, weather, and storage can change the texture of the same variety, so the dish and the bag’s use label outrank the name.
Sources used for this guide
- Danish preparation and variety guide · Ernæringsfokus
- European cooking-type terminology · UNECE
- Swedish firm/floury guidance · Svensk Potatis
- Norwegian potato guide · FRUKT.no
- Finnish colour codes and types · Martat
- Dutch cooking types · Aardappels.nl
- Irish varieties · Bord Bia
- Polish A/B/C culinary types · Stowarzyszenie Polski Ziemniak
- All-purpose and seasonal texture · Potatoes New Zealand
Research checked 2 August 2026. Retail stock and package wording vary by shop and season.