The Year of the Spud

Despite being given a bad rap by the anti-carb revolutionaries, Solanum tubersoum – better known as the potato – is enjoying a renaissance. In fact, this is literally the tater’s year: The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato.

Smashing Facts

A 150-gram baked potato contains just 100 calories – about half the count of a similar serving of pasta or rice – and provides 45 per cent of your daily vitamin C needs, and more potassium than a banana. It contains no cholesterol (skip the butter!), but has the same amount of protein as half an egg and seven times the iron found in one cup of milk. It’s high in fibre, low in cost, 99 per cent fat-free. 

Tip: Lose the peeler and eat the skin too, for twice the nutrients.

The Dirt on Alberta

Alberta has the right stuff for high-quality potato crops: high altitude, a large land base for crop rotation, long and warm summer days coupled with cool nights and abundant water. Today, about 160 licensed potato growers produce 4 million metric tonnes of potatoes annually – almost 10 per cent of Canada’s total crop. More than 90 varieties are grown provincially for table, seed and process potatoes.

Boasting point: Alberta is Western Canada’s biggest exporter of seed potatoes, prized since the colder climate means fewer pest problems.

At the Root

Originating in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia, the potato’s history dates back to 5,000 BCE. Spanish conquistadores brought spuds to Europe in the mid-16th century. Potatoes were grown in London in 1597, reaching France and the Netherlands soon after. Few people actually ate the new veggie, considering it poisonous like its relative, the nightshade. But in the 1770s, massive cereal crop failures and widespread famine across continental Europe forced a change. French scientist A.A. Parmentier proved “the devil’s apple” was edible by hosting potato-only feasts for Louis XIV.

Daily diet: By 1815, spuds were a European staple.

Tater Trivia

• Potato chips were invented in Saratoga, New York, in 1853.

An American entrepreneur and diner at the Moon Lake Lodge, Cornelius Vanderbilt, complained his potatoes were too thick. Chef George Crum, was so angry he sliced up a paper-thin batch, fried them in hot oil, salted heavily and served them. Vanderbilt loved them and they became a house specialty.

• In October 1995, the potato made history as the first vegetable grown in space.

• The former Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, accessorized her wigs with potato flower blossoms in the 1770s.

• The Incas placed raw slices of potato on limbs with broken bones to promote healing. Today’s folk remedies suggest

placing raw grated potato on sun-burnt or frostbitten skin.

Operating Instructions

• Add hot milk to potatoes while mashing to prevent lumps

• Refrigerating potatoes – other than new and small varieties –converts starch to sugar, making them sweetish. Instead, stash in a cool dark location in cardboard boxes or burlap sacks. Adding an apple prevents sprouting.

• Don’t store them near garlic or onions, which emit gases, causing rapid deterioration.