May 22, 2007

The Secret History of the Potato Awww baby . . I love the sexy, sexy subjects of history and the sensual hot-buttered passion of the potato. Also, it's interesting. 'Cause taters is good eatin'. see also. via linkfi

Potatoes haven't always been smooth and tasty. Their ancestors, which still grow in South America, resemble gnarly fingers, and their bitterness makes them unappetizing, whether baked, mashed, or fried. Two subspecies of these wild spuds, one found in Chile, the other in the Andean highlands of Peru, look very similar but differ genetically. Most scientists have long assumed that European potatoes, the foundation for all modern cultivated potatoes, come from the Chilean variety, because Chilean lowlands resemble Europe's environment most closely. But between the Americas and Europe, in potato history, lie the Canary Islands, off northwest Africa. Shipping records from 1567 make these islands the first known home to potatoes outside of Central and South America. And some researchers say the potatoes there resemble the Andean variety but have never had genetic proof. That's so hot.

posted by petebest 17 years ago
  • mmmmmm, tubers!
  • Wait a minute. Both the potato and the tomato are new-world foods? What the hell did Europeans eat before they started sailin' round the world?
  • Potatoes are tasty. But sweet potatoes are delicious. MMMhhh, sweet potato pie...
  • What the hell did Europeans eat before they started sailin' round the world? Peacocks. Spotted dick. The usual array of entrails and sweetmeats. Dirt. Pig testicles. Beer with stuff floating in it. "Pottage." Dandelions. Turd sandwiches. You know, standard European fare.
  • Well, since corn, tomatoes and chiles are from the new world, they certainly didn't eat chips and salsa.
  • Wait a minute. Both the potato and the tomato are new-world foods? Yeah I know, and corn too - weird innit?
  • I said potato, potato, potato Potato, potato, potato, Potato, potato, potato, Potato, aaaah oooh yeah! -- Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphins (who, clearly, understand)
  • Potatoes are lovely, but avocados... now that's sexy.
  • Well, it's not so secret anymore!
  • Sushi was actually discovered in the southern part of what is now Idaho.
  • So true!! And spring rolls originated in Kansas.
  • And THREE CHEERS FOR GRANDPA HASS!!! avocados mmmmmmmmm, nangaaanaaaga aaahaa slurp
  • I think it was us English, not the potato that got the blame for the great famine in Ireland. The spud was just a contributing factor. New world crops caused a population surge in China too, I remember being told - maize can be cultivated in some pretty marginal upland areas where previously no-one could live. Now they're shifting farmers out of degraded karst hills down in Guangxi. The one that always got me was the red chilli - if that came from the Americas, cooking must have been completely different a few centuries back.
  • Carrots have their own museum.
  • Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm avocado..... mmmmm potato.......
  • My mother used to sing "Take an Old, Cold tater and Wait" to me when I was a kid. 'Course, I LIKED cold taters. And then there's the old classic, the potato battery.
  • I think it was us English, not the potato that got the blame for the great famine in Ireland. Mmmm yes. Something about carting off all the food, hence the famine? What's the story there England? C'mon, let's have it!
  • I thought potatoes came from here.
  • Welcome, velvetrabbit!
  • And awesome name, BTW. Trust a rabbit to know where the carrot mseum is!
  • Wow, carrots can be used as a vermicide. Didn't know that. Next time I need to do some expellin' of the ol' worms, I'm in business! Thanks for the carrot museum link! That deserves it's own FPP!
  • I once had a baked potato at a restaurant in Virginia that was so sweet and delicious, I ordered another one for dessert. The waiter thought I was a little crazy, but I have no regrets. Tasty post.
  • The Carrot originated some 5000 years ago in Middle Asia around Afghanistan, and slowly spread into the Mediterranean area. The first carrots were white, purple, red, yellow, green and black - not orange. The Greeks called the carrot "Philtron" and used it as a love medicine to make men more ardent and women more yielding. The Roman emperor Caligula, believing these stories, forced the whole Roman Senate to eat carrots so he could see them "in rut like wild beasts." The species did not turn orange until the 1500's when Dutch agricultural scientists and growers used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the colour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. Totally diggin' the carrot museum link. Myyeeeahhhh . . *smak* *smak* *smak*
  • Thank you! I'm all blushy now. I've been lurking for a long time. Finally lured out by the promise of a hot buttered potato.
  • "Is this the Potato farm?" "Yes, I am Albert Potato."
  • Hi delurking monkey! Be sure to avoid Koko. She smells bad.
  • *cries*
  • One Amma hug needed in aisle 14247!
  • I've smelled Koko from up close. She smells damn fine.
  • You, sir, are a gentleman and a scallop.
  • *glad I remembered to shower that day*
  • That comment veered close to pervert territory, my friend. Not that I have a problem with that.
  • My favourite bit of root-vegetable related language trivia is the word rhaphanidosis. (See end para two for painful details)
  • And on lack of preview I see I have more than veered into the territory mct so signally fails to disapprove of.
  • Heh. Ass radish. *is twelve*
  • One presumes this would be more of the daikon variety, rather than, say, a Cherry Bell?
  • You say day-kon, nd I say die-kon You say rhi-zom, and I say rye-zome day-kon, die-kon rhi-zom, rye-zome, Let's call the whole thing off!
  • MonkeyFilter: Finally lured out by the promise of a hot buttered potato. Well done! Ehhhhhh, What's up, Doc?
  • Monkeyfilter: Let's call the whole thing off!