Ingredient of the Week: Potato
With about five thousand potato varieties worldwide, it is no wonder that there is no shortage of recipes featuring this incredible ingredient. Whether you prefer chips, new potatoes, mash or hash-browns, the potato is sure to sprout your interest in gastronomy, even if you are the most elementary of cooks.
The potato is a tuberous root vegetable from the nightshade family of plants. It originated in the area of contemporary Peru some 7,000 years ago and was introduced to Europe around 1700, then subsequently to the rest of the world. Over 99 per cent of all cultivated potato varieties worldwide are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to Chile. However, in recent decades, the greatest expansion of potato has been in Asia, where China has become the world’s largest potato producer, followed by India.
Nutritionally, potatoes are best known for their carbohydrate content, predominantly in the form of starch. This vegetable is also the single and most important source of Vitamin C and fibre for much of the world. And forget the myth that the potato fattening – it contains virtually no fat but instead a number of other important vitamins and minerals packed into deliciously flavoured sustenance. The potato is so versatile, it has even been even used to make potato milk!
Potatoes take you around the world when it comes to cooking. Peruvian cuisine naturally contains this vegetable as a primary ingredient. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish involving mashed potato combined with shredded cabbage and onion. In Scandinavia, early ripening varieties are considered a special delicacy – boiled whole and served with dill, these “new potatoes” are traditionally consumed together with Baltic herring. In Western Europe, especially in Belgium, sliced potatoes are fried to get ‘frieten’, the original French fries. In Italy, they serve to make a type of pasta called gnocchi.
Similarly, cooked and mashed potatoes or potato flour can be used in the kn?del or dumpling eaten with or added to meat dishes all over central and Eastern Europe. French fries and often hash browns are commonly found in typical American fast-food joints, and another popular favourite involves a baked potato topped with cheddar cheese. Canadian Poutine is a hearty serving of french fries, fresh cheese curds and hot gravy, its origins going back to Quebec in the 1950s.
Cyprus is also reknown for its potatoes, so why not indulge in some home-made food? Creamed Spinach and Potato Soup makes a great starter, as does Baked Gruy?re and Potato Souffl?. How about an exotic Curried Potato Salad with Mango Dressing? Boulang?re Potatoes make a flavourful side dish. For a delectable entr?e, try flavourful Pork Escalopes baked with Apple and Potato R?sti, or Pumpkin Gnocchi with Chanterelle Parsely Cream. Don’t stop there: incorporate this amazing ingredient into original desserts, like moist Sweet Potato Muffins or rich Chocolate Potato Cake.
Whatever fare you choose to create, potatoes will definitely harvest an appetite in you!
Recipies from:
Potato – a celebration of the world’s most versatile vegetable
by A.Barker and S. Mansfield
??
??
??
??
<2>
