The History of the Potato

            This morning, as I left my Spanish class, I left Sturm hall, walked through Driscoll, and continued on to Nagel Hall to pick up something to eat for lunch. I decided to pick a selection from their Rotisserie section, which normally consists of things like chicken, ribs, meatloaf, mac and cheese, and some sort of potato dish. Today, I chose the ribs, some mac and cheese, and for my third choice, I could not decide between cream of chicken soup and potato au gratin. I eventually decided on the potato au gratin, a choice I was very happy with. The dish got me thinking about potatoes, and I realized that there are so many different ways to cook a potato. This got me thinking even more. Where do potatoes come from? Who was the first group to consume potatoes? Who would ever think to take that out of the ground and take a bite of it? These questions led to more questions, which caused me to do a little research into the subject matter. I soon found out both the history of the potato and the all of the different ways you can prepare a potato, and let me tell you, there are A LOT of ways that you can prepare a potato.

            I discovered, according to Eugene Grubb in his book “The Potato”, that the potato finds its origins up in the Andes Mountains, nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, with some being found nearly 15 to 16 thousand feet high. (64) To the Peruvians, these potatoes were more than just a source of food. They were called “apples of love” because of their aphrodisiac properties. The Incans fought to the death, just so they could use human blood to fertilize their potato fields. Though no one knows exactly how the potato got to Europe, it arrived sometime in the late 1500’s. Most suspect that the Spanish were the first to bring the potato back, but there is much dispute over exactly who brought it back. From there, the potato spread throughout the rest of Europe and eventually, the rest of the world. Over the years, the potato has received many names. To the Spanish, it is called a papata, a brambor by the Czech, a panbowka by the Polish, and a pomme de terre by the French, which literally translates out to ”apple of the earth”. (Robyns 8) The French have a very clever name for this food since, to many cultures; the potato is eaten just about as frequently as an apple. In 1959, Poland led the world in consumption of potatoes, consuming 550 pounds per year, with East Germany coming in second with 484 pounds per year. (Robyns 131) However, this survey did not include the USSR, which, at the time, was the heaviest consumer of potatoes by far. Potatoes have a very unique history, and have been considered to have been responsible for many important events over the course of the world. One of these events was the potato famine in Ireland. Without this famine, the Irish never would have migrated to the United States and we would not have the strong Irish background that we have today.

            After discovering the history of the potato, I inquired about how it has been used over the course of its history. The Potato Cookbook by Gwen Robyns was a wonderful source of information for this part of my inquiry. From this book, I learned that there are 4 different groups of potatoes: the round white group, the round red group, the russet group, and the long white group. (Robyns 9, 10) Within each of these groups, there are even more subgroups of potatoes that I will not go into since there are so many. From this point in my research, I took interest into the different ways that I could prepare the potato. I was very surprised by my results. I had always known that there were plenty of different ways to cook a potato, but I had not realized there were so many different ways. To begin with, Robyns lists a few lesser used ways to cook the potato, boiling, steaming, baked potatoes, roast potatoes, foiled potatoes, French fried potatoes, and potato chips. (40) The more commonly used ways of cooking potatoes were given their very own chapters. These include mashed potatoes, filled jacket potatoes, and skillet potatoes. In the chapters describing these ways of preparation, Robyns gives around 25 or more different recipes to cook the potato in that manner. After these ways of using mainly just the potato, I learned that you could also make potato soups and potato salads, and that you could even use potatoes in making pastries, flans, and pies. The most interesting recipes I found for these desserts were for Potato Chocolate Gateaux (French for cake) and Chocolate Éclairs. (Robyns 112) I was amazed by these results. I had no idea that there were so many different ways you could utilize something as simple as a potato. Robyns’ cookbook certainly gave me a lot of insight into the world of the potato.

            After doing all of this research, I thought back to my meal earlier in the day, my potatoes au gratin. I was surprised to not find any recipes for this particular dish, but I decided that it may have been listed under a different name. I don’t believe that my discoveries will by any means change the amount I consume potatoes, but it will definitely change the way that I eat them, at least once I have the ability to make that decision. When I am living off on my own next year, I will keep these recipes in mind and potentially try some of them out (I may even take a try at making potato wine.) One thing is for sure though, the next time that I am consuming a potato, I will think back to the Incans, who shed blood for the creation of this wonderful spud.

Eugene, Grubb. The Potato. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1912. Print.

Robyns, Gwen. The Potato Cookbook. Stemmer House Publishing, 1976. Print.