Potato pops

TAMARAPU SAMPATHKUMARAN

Today the potato is a popular food throughout the world. Archaeological excavations in Lima, Peru, indicate that potato cultivation began as far back as 6000 B.C. The botanical name for potato is Solanum Tuberosum. The word potato comes from the Carribbean word batata. In the early 1500s, Pizzaro and his Spanish explorers discovered the potato in Equador. From there they brought it to Spain, Italy and France. When introduced in Europe, the potato was cursed as an evil food. The Scots refused to eat it because it was not mentioned in the Bible. It was only in the 18th Century that the potato gained popularity. And it was because of Captain Cook, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake and Catherine the Great that people began to accept and like it. Potato became fashionable when Marie Antoinette paraded the French countryside wearing potato blossoms in her hair!

Today the potato is produced in 130 countries, and the value of the total produce is estimated to be around 1,000 billion dollars a year. It is currently the world's fourth most important food crop. There is no specific evidence of when the potato was introduced to India.

The potato is so adaptable that it grows below sea level, behind the Dutch dykes to almost 15,000 feet up in the chilly Adens and Himalayas, from the Arctic circle to the Strait of Mellagan and in the scorching deserts of Africa and Australia. There are more than 5,000 varieties of potato. They have high levels of vitamin C, and potassium. Its skin contains fibre, iron, calcium, zinc, phosporous and Vitamin B.

Potatoes can be baked, mashed, fried and steam boiled. More than being a vegetable, potato is a staple food.

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