Potatoes are Not Irish, Origin of the Potato.

Potatoes are Not Irish.

All forms of the potato, like beans,and corn or maize originated in the Americas; just not in North America or the present day  United States of the Americas.

Like corn (maize) and the tomato; the potato, was introduced to Europe

From South America in the sixteenth century,

Probably by the Spanish.

But Germans credit Sir Francis Drake with the introduction 1580.

Yukon Gold, German Butterball, Irish Cobbler,

Yellow Finn, Bannock Russet.

The potato is truly what the French have called it:

Pomme de terre, the apple of the earth.

The history of the potato, like that of beans, corn, squash and tomatoes, probably has its roots in the windswept Andes Mountains of South America.

Like much of Canada, South America is an austere region plagued by fluctuating temperatures and often poor soil conditions. Yet the tough and durable potato is believed to have evolved in its thin air (elevations up to 1500 feet), climbing ever higher like the people who first settled the region.

These tough pre-European farmers first discovered and cultivated the potato some 700 to a 1000 years ago (about the same time as the present North American natives were crawling out of caves- somewhere else in the world). They were impressed by its ruggedness, storage quality and its nutritional value.

 Western man did not come in contact with the potato until as late as 1537 when the Spanish Conquistadors tramped through Peru. And it was even later, about 1570, that the first potato made its way across the Atlantic to make a start on the continent of Europe.

Though the tuber was productive and hardy, the Spanish put it to very limited use. In Spanish Colonies potatoes were considered food of the under classes, when brought to the Old World they would be used primarily to feed hospital and prison inmates.

It would take three decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe. Even so the potato was cultivated primarily as a curiosity by amateur botanists. Resistance was due to ingrained eating habits, the tubers reputation as a food for the underprivileged and perhaps most importantly its relationship to poisonous plants

It is still commonly believed that the tomato is the only edible member of the night shade family. In fact, eggplants, potatoes, and tomatoes are all members of this family.

Because the potato, like the tomato is a member of the nightshade family, like the tomato its leaves are indeed poisonous. A potato left too long in the sunlight will begin to turn green. The green skin contains substance called solanine, which can cause the potato to taste bitter and even cause illness in humans. The active ingredient (drug) atropine can also cause delirium, but usually just leads to disturbed sleep and dreams. Such drawbacks were understood in Europe, but the advantages, generally were not.

Europe would wait until the 1780’s before the potato gained prominence anywhere. About 1780 the people of Ireland, many of whom considered themselves to be under privileged, and oppressed, adopted the rugged food crop. The other main reason for its acceptance in Ireland was its ability to produce abundant, nutritious food. Unlike any other major crop, except beans, another product of South America that had not really come into vogue, potatoes contain most of the vitamins needed for sustenance. Perhaps more importantly, potatoes can provide this sustenance to nearly ten people on an acre of land. This would be one of the prime factors causing a population explosion in the early 1800’s Of course by the mid 1800’s the Irish would become so dependent upon this crop that its failure would provoke a famine.

While in Ireland, the potato gained acceptance literally from the bottom up, in France the potato was imposed upon society by an intellectual. Antoine Augustine Parmentier saw that the nutritional benefits of the crop combined with its productive capacity could be a boon to the French farmer. He was a pharmacist, chemist, and employee of Louis XV. Parmentier discovered the benefits of the potato while held prisoner by the Prussians during the Seven Years War. He was so enamoured by the potato that he determined that it should become a staple of the French diet. After failing by conventional means to convince Frenchmen of its advantages, he determined upon a surreptitious means of making his point.

Parmentier acquired a miserable and unproductive spot of ground on the outskirts of Paris. Here he planted fifty acres of potatoes. During the day, he sat guard over it. This drew considerable attention in the neighbourhood. In the evening the guard was relaxed and the locals came to see what all the fuss was about. Believing the plant must be valuable; may peasants “acquired” some potatoes from the plot, and soon were growing the tuber in their own garden plots. Their resistance was overcome by their curiosity, greed, and desire to better their lot with the obviously valuable new produce.

Soon the potato would gain wide acceptance across Europe and eventually even make its way back over the Atlantic to North America. As time passed, the potato would become one of the major food stuffs of the world, and as such would naturally be “claimed” by the United States. But not without a few bumps in the road. The 1840’s saw a disastrous potato blight. This terrible disease was caused by a fungus known as Phytophthoran infestans. With the devastation of the potato crops, throughout Europe came the destruction and dislocation of many of the populations that had become dependent upon it. The Potato Famine in Ireland would cut the population by half (through both starvation and emigration) and was the reason some of my on ancestors emigrated from Scotland. An effective fungicide was not found until 1883 by the French botanist Alexander Millardet.

It is hard for North Americans to imagine a time when potatoes were not a daily dish. Yet a little over 450 years ago they were known only to the Incas of Peru, who had an elaborate agricultural system and developed this tuberous vegetable until they had many varieties, all sizes, shapes, and even colours. Like tomatoes, squash, beans, and corn, potatoes were native only to South America and explorers took them to Europe.

The Irish took the simple bland tuber and brought it back to North America as the Irish potato, the variety most widely grown and eaten in this country. We regularly depend on three types: the common mature (or stored) potato for boiling, mashing, hash-browned, and cooking with meats; the elongated baking potato with its fine mealy texture; and the new potato, waxy and smooth, which is delicious sautéed and the best choice for potato salad. There are probably more recipes for preparing potatoes than for any other vegetable in the world. No wonder they are now almost as basic as bread in our diet.

Potato or white potato, is a common name for a perennial plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the family Solanceae (like the tomato, and of which there is now a hybrid form, which produces tomatoes above and potatoes below ground level, of the night shade family) and for its swollen underground stem, a tuber, which is one of the most widely used vegetables in Western temperate climates. The plant is probably native to the Andes, where it was cultivated by the Incas. Its history is difficult to trace, partly because the name potato was also used by early writers for the Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and for other unrelated plants Spanish explorers are believed to have brought it in the 16^th century from Peru to Spain, whence it spread north and west throughout Europe. It was brought to North America by European settlers; thus like the closely related tomato, it is a reintroduced food plant in the New world.

The potato was first accepted as a large scale crop in the British Isles. It became the major food crop in Ireland during the 18^th century and is hence often called Irish potato to distinguish it from the sweet potato. The potato was also important to the course of history in the 20^th century in Europe, especially in Germany, where it kept the country alive during two world wars. With its high carbohydrate content, the potato is today a primary food of Western peoples, as well as a source of starch, flour, alcohol, dextrin, and fodder (chiefly in Europe, where more is used for this purpose than for human consumption). Because of its origin, it grows best in a cool, moist climate; with acid soil such as much of Canada (especially parts of British Columbia and Nova Scotia) which produces what are known as the best potatoes in the world. Germany, Russia, and Poland are the greatest potato countries of Europe. Potatoes are usually propagated by planting pieces of the tubers that bear two or three “eyes”, the buds of the underground stems. The plant is sensitive to frost, is subject to certain fungus and virus diseases (e.g. Mosaic, wilt, and blight), and is attacked by several insect pests, especially the potato beetle.

Nutritionally, the potato is high in carbohydrates and a good source of protein, vitamin C, the B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, and iron. Most of the minerals and protein are concentrated beneath the skin, (in the part most of us throw away) and the skin itself is a source of food fiber; health authorities therefore recommend cooking and eating it unpeeled.

General Cooking Hints

·        Whenever possible, cook potatoes in their skins to preserve the valuable fibre, minerals and vitamin C which lie in or just under the skin, peel after boiling, if necessary.

·        While, as previously stated, baking is the best method to secure the desired results of cooking vegetables while still preserving vitamins and minerals, steaming is now the second most common method of cooking potatoes in restaurants and a very good way of retaining their shape and texture.

·        Unfortunately many restaurants have adopted the practice of wrapping unpeeled potatoes in aluminium foil then steaming or boiling them. This is done for several reasons: to preserve oven space, to save time, and to disguise the fact that the potatoes are often not properly washed or prepared for cooking.

·        The more water you use to boil potatoes, the more nutrition, goodness, and flavour is lost. Use as little water as possible, and avoid fast boiling, which causes the outer cells of the potatoes to break and makes them go mushy.

·        When recipes call for peeled potatoes, rather than throwing the skins away I like to peel them thickly and use the skins to make

OVEN CHIPS.

Put peelings in a bowl with a tsp. of oil-more if there are a lot of skins- season well, and stir around until skins are lightly coated with oil. Bake in a greased dish in a moderate oven until they are golden brown, puffed up and crisp.

Peeled potatoes will blacken when exposed to the air. Cook them immediately if possible; if they have to be kept, cover with cold water.

Blackening after cooking is caused by acid and iron in the potato, or by the water in certain areas. A little lemon juice or vinegar added to the cooking water helps prevent this.