One Potato, Blue Potatoes, Three Huckleberry and More

 

More indeed! Does Solanum tuberosum have a rainbow of varieties and an incredible history to tell!

The potato’s story started some 350 million years ago when they evolved from their poisonous ancestral plant, the noxious nightshade. Potatoes slowly evolved in the South American Andean Highlands, between Peru and Bolivia, into forms that looked like gnarly fingerlings.

Some 15 thousand years ago, the Incas arrived and started domesticating those potatoes. They preserved potatoes by dehydrating and mashing them into a substance called chuño. Allowing for storage for up to10 years, chuño provided great insurance against starvation due to crop failure.

In the 1500’s, Spanish conquistadors searching for Peruvian gold discovered potatoes and brought them to Europe. But despite its rainbow of varieties, Europeans believed the potato to be weird, poisonous and evil. For years they suspected it caused leprosy, syphilis, sterility, and narcosis, so they destroyed the very soil it grew in.

It wasn’t until French botanist, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier convinced King Louis XVI in the late 1700’s to start mass cultivations for the military. These guarded fields got the attention of civilians. Thereafter, potatoes became one of the most popular food sources in Europe. Then in 1845 a disease destroyed Ireland’s entire potato production. With a million dying from starvation, large numbers of people emigrated to North America and Australia.

Our own USA was the last large country to adopt the potato, but not until Thomas Jefferson served some spuds at a White House dinner did guests see them in a positive light.  After horticulturist Luther Burbank hybridized a disease-resistant potato in 1872, they really took off.

Once introduced to North America, they became an important part of the world’s cuisine and the fourth largest worldwide food crop (following rice, maize, and wheat.)  Due in part to their high caloric value and many varieties, world production in 2010 was 324 million tons (74.8 million in China, 36.6 million in India, 21.1 million in Ukraine, 18.3 million in the USA and 10.2 million in Germany, to name a lot.)

No matter what variety, potatoes can be consumed baked whole, mashed, roasted, fried, ground into flour, and used as a thickener for sauces.  They have highly digestible sources of vitamin C, protein, potassium, thiamine, niacin and fiber.

The “eyes” in potatoes produce stems called stolons. The stolon’s tip is where potato tubers form. Given the number of varieties (over 1,000 worldwide), it’s no wonder skins and flesh can be white, golden, deep purple, rich red, striped, green, red or purple, starchy, waxy, or in between. They can be round, oval, or fingerling ranging from a few ounces to 3 pounds.

When buying potatoes for planting, purchase certified seed potatoes to plant in rich ground soil. Planting them in pots (half barrels work well) is even better. Dumping pots out allows harvesting without digging and gives just about anyone a chance to cultivate this wonderful rainbow of heirloom tubers.

Some Potato Fun:

In 1974 Englishman Eric Jenkins grew the largest potato from one plant. It was 370 pounds!

There are two National potato holidays: one on August 19^th and the other October 27^th.

The “Mister Potatohead” toys came out in 1952.  Anyone remember those?

Potatoes became a fashion statement when Marie Antoinette wore their blossoms in her hair.

 

Resources:

The Little Potato Company

https://www.littlepotatoes.com › Blog

 

Vegetable Facts

Origin and History of Potatoes

Potato Nutrition

https://potatogoodness.com/potato-fun-facts-history/

 

Seed Sources:

Irish Eyes and a Hint of Garlic

http://www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com

 

Recipe:

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400° or 375° in convection oven

Cover baking sheet with heavy foil and coat with oil

2 lbs. small, single or mixed variety, fresh potatoes (fingerling, blue, red, gold, etc.) washed and halved if fingerlings or quartered if larger ovals

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ground organic chili powder, mild or hot

½ teaspoon organic honey

4 cloves garlic pressed or finely minced

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced fine

Mix oil, salt, chili powder, honey, garlic and rosemary in a small bowl.  Put potato pieces in a large zip-type plastic bag.  Pour in the oil mixture then close bag and massage until all pieces are coated.

Place potato pieces on foil lined baking sheet and roast in oven about 25-35 minutes until golden.  Remove from oven and serve hot or enclose in foil and keep warm until needed.  Serves about 6 as a side dish.