What are Irish potatoes? St. Patrick’s Day treat is a Philly favorite

The Philly cheesesteak, soft pretzels, hoagies and water ice are all some of this region’s most iconic foods.

But the Philadelphia area can also lay claim to a St. Patrick’s Day delicacy that’s almost completely unheard of outside of the area: the Irish potato.

Over the years, grabbing a few boxes of the cinnamon-covered nuggets of coconut and sugar have become as much a part of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday celebration as parades and parties.

Peddler’s Village staple Skip’s Candy Corner spent many years perfecting their more than 40-year-old recipe for their handmade Irish potatoes, according to Janet Pietrak, who along with her late husband, Skip, developed their recipe.

To set them apart from their competitors, Skip’s Irish potatoes include an abundance of coconut and are less dry than versions sold elsewhere, Janet Pietrak said.

What is an Irish potato? Where did they come from?

Specific recipes vary, but the basic Irish potato almost always includes a mix of coconut and sugar covered in cinnamon and rolled into small round nuggets that resemble a freshly dug-up potato. Some variations include using cream cheese in the filling or adding nuts to the mix. None have any actual potato.

While Irish potatoes may be holiday staples in Philadelphia and Bucks County today, there is some debate about how they originated.

The candies were most likely invented by the city’s Irish immigrants who moved to Philadelphia in droves during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Some have also attributed the candy’s invention to simple economics — a way to fill the gap for candy-sellers during the peak candy holidays of Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Importantly though, the Irish potatoes as we know them don’t have roots in Ireland and are more reflective of American tastes at the time, according to an Irish food historian.

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A year-round tradition in Peddler’s Village

Just as they’ve done every year since they opened in 1993, Skip’s Candy Corner has bolstered their stock of homemade Irish potatoes in time for the holiday season. They typically sell approximately 100 pounds of the candy around St. Patrick’s Day alone, said Kimberly Pietrak, the couple’s daughter and second-generation in the family business.

But luckily for Bucks County residents, you don’t have to wait all year to get your hands on the sweets: Unlike other shops that sell Irish potatoes, Skip’s keeps them on the shelves year-round.

Once they are rolled and packaged, the candy can stay fresh for up to three months, Janet Pietrak said, which is perfect for tourists who may be packing theirs for a long trip home. Outside of the holiday season they also have no competition from other candy-makers for the product, which makes it all the more appealing to have on the shelves.

“Why discontinue it if we like it, other people like it and we can make it?” Janet Pietrak said.

The store’s location in a tourist hub also gives Skip’s the unique opportunity to introduce the candy to people and give them their first taste. They typically try to keep some small samples on hand to help answer the simple question of, “What’s an Irish potato?”

“They’re uniquely surprised because they would never have expected it to be like that,” Kimberly Pietrak said.

Now in the family’s third generation of candy-makers, 16-year-old Coulton Decher is taking control of the shop’s Irish potato business. He’s the son of Kimberly Pietrak.

No longer just a kid running around the shop, Decher saw their Irish potatoes as the perfect opportunity for him to put his own stamp on the family business while still remaining true to their traditions.

“I wanted to try taking something over and making it my own,” Decher said as customers perused the store a week before the holiday.

While he still has a few more St. Patrick’s Days in the shop, Decher is weighing his passion for aerospace engineering and his love for the family business as he prepares to graduate high school in the coming years.

But regardless of what he decides, its a safe bet that Irish potatoes will still be on the shelves.

“I’m really happy to keep it in the store forever,” Janet Pietrak said.

Lacey Latch is the development reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer. She can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: What are Irish potatoes? One Bucks County shop offers Philly favorite