CULINARY INFO
Potatoes : History
"DISCLAIMER"
The information contained here is supplied for your interest only and further research may be required.
I have gathered it from many sources over many years. While I attempt to insure they are crossed referenced for accuracy,
I take no responsibility for mistakes - additions or corrections are welcomed.
Potato
BASIC HISTORY OF THE POTATO
The potato originated in South America, a crop developed by the Indians because their staple diet of corn would not grow above 3350m.
1573
The potato is brought back from the Americas and cultivated in Spain
1586
Arguments abound as to whom introduced the potato to Great Britain; some say it was Sir Francis Drake from South America in 1586, while others say they were brought by Sir Thomas Harriot in that year.
In the same year Sir Walter Raleigh apprantly planted potatoes in Ireland.
1770
A military chemist, Antoine Parmentier's study of the potato won a contest to find a food "capable of reducing the calamities of famine". He served dinners at which all six courses were made of potatoes and many French potato dishes now bear his name
1774
In Prussia, Frederick the Great sent free potatoes to the starving peasants after the famine of 1774, but they refused to touch them until soldiers were sent in to persuade them. Less than a century later potatoes were so well established in Germany the citizens of Offenburg raised a statue to Sir Waiter Raleigh, potato in hand
19th century
The British introduced potatoes to Nepal in the mid -19th century and they soon became a staple crop.
The Irish it has been said, came to depend so totally on the potato, that when blight destroyed the crop in the middle of the 19th century, famine devastated the country, many people died, and others were forced to emigrate. However, there are no doubt many other reasons; political and otherwise for this horrific famine
In Scotland, Presbyterian ministers denounced the potato as ungodly because it was not mentioned in the Bible. French objections were gastronomic, "I know of nothing more eminently tasteless," declared Brillat-Savarin<
20th Century
Potato farmers; who have pulled up a steady 270 million tonnes a year worldwide since the 1960's, are expected to grow 42 million tonnes more by the year 2000. Even in countries where the potato is or was not a staple, it is soaring in popularity. In China for example, annual potato output has soared to 66 million tonnes - more than 50 times the harvest in its homeland: Peru. Meanwhile, legions of potato growers are discovering or creating ever more complex varieties and uses for the potato and its related tubers; from the "aphrodisiac' roots to the hairy insect killing variety developed in the USA.
