Did you know that the Indians in Peru were the first people to cultivate the potato over 4000 years ago? The Andean Mountains of South America is the birthplace of the "Irish" white potato. The Symara Indians developed over two hundred varieties at elevations of over 10,000 feet over sea level.
The potato, a name derived from the American Indian word "Batata", was introduced to Europeans be Spanish conquerors during the late 16th Century.
The Spanish claim that Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada was the first to introduce the potato to Europe in the year 1550. Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1506 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in Colombia. He discovered the potato while in search of the golden city of El Dorado. He never found gold and within twenty years the potato was cultivated in Spain and Italy.
The history of the potato continued to be linked to various adventurers. For example, the Irish say that it was nut until 1585 that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato to Europe. Others claim that Sir Francis Drake obtained some roots in Cartagena or that the potato was part of the booty from a wrecked Armada vessel. However, it's impossible now to unravel the truth of these stories.
At first, potatoes were not initially accepted by Europeans. Some claimed potatoes were not mentioned in the bible, while others attributed some common diseases to potatoes.
Potatoes first became popular when Marie Antoinette paraded in France wearing a crown of potato blossoms. In the late 1700's Frederick the Great planted potatoes in his Pleasure Garden in Berlin. He admired the beauty of the potato flowers. King Frederick the Great promoted the eating of potatoes because of its high nutritional value.
Captain Nathaniel Butler, Governor of Bermuda sent a cargo of potatoes to Francis Wyatt, governor of Virginia in 1621. This is the first time potatoes arrived in North America.
In 1770 a crop failure gave a war its name - "The Potato War" when a war between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa forced soldiers to steal the enemy's potatoes as there was not much more food to eat. When the potatoes were finished, so did the war.
In 1845 and 1846 the potato crop in Ireland was devastated by fungus. The potato had become a major food to the Irish causing the "Irish Potato Famine" which cased many Irish to immigrate. The population of Ireland decreased by nearly two million between 1847 and 1851.
Potato Trivia:
- A potato is about 80% water and 20% solid.
- An 8 ounce baked or boiled potato has only about 100 calories.
- China is the No. 1 potato producing country in the world.
- "French Fries" were introduced to America when Thomas Jefferson served them at a Whitehouse dinner.
- 1853 was the year the potato crisp was invented in New York.
- The world's biggest potato was grown in Germany in 1997, 3.2 kg.
- The annual potato consumption of an average global citizen in the last full decade was 33kg or 73lbs.
- Today potatoes are grown in about 125 countries throughout the world.
- The sweet potato belongs in the same family as morning glories while the white potato belongs to the same group as tomatoes, tobacco, chile pepper, eggplant and the petunia.
- Potato storage facilities are kept at temperatures above 4 °C (39 °F) as potato starch turns into sugar and alters the taste below this temperature.
Check out the 2014 UK Potato Days and Seeds Fairs organised or attended by Pennard Plants/Growing Old http://www.potato-days.net/
and the Irish National Potato Day at http://www.potato.ie/
Sources:
- In Search of Total Perfection by Heston Blumenthal.
- Idaho Potato Museum.
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