Potatoes are one of four types of crops, in addition to wheat, rice and corn, which feeds the entire world, but at the same time their value is understated.
Read to the end to get the most useful information.
The average person eats 70-100 kg of potatoes during the year, but the consumption of the root crop decreases from year to year. The potato is being replaced by other vegetables. But you can cook a lot of dishes from it, the taste of which will delight many gourmets.
Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are a valuable product. It contains high amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber. They do not burden the digestive system, they do not recover from it. So it's time to learn in detail about the benefits of this vegetable.
What is worth knowing about potatoes?
1. Potatoes - a treat for kings and the poor
The homeland of the potato is South America. The first mentions of its cultivation date back to 4000 BC. e.
Juan de Castelos, a Spanish soldier and conquistador, encountered the ancestors of modern root crop varieties in the Colombian Andes. He called the potato "turmas de tierra", that is, truffles, and in the middle of the 16th century, the images of the "curiosity" were brought home.
However, in Spain they did not eat potatoes. At first, botanical gardens were decorated with a plant, King Louis XVI of France pinned flowers to his tailcoat, and women decorated their hair with them.
The culinary features of the vegetable were appreciated much later. At first, he met at the royal tables. Over time, it began to be cultivated en masse, especially in the poor corners of Europe.
2. Potatoes are good for your health
Potatoes are a valuable food product. It contains vitamins and minerals that are extremely important for the proper functioning of the body. Ascorbic acid, B vitamins and many elements are present in it: potassium, calcium, magnesium, iodine, iron and phosphorus.
Potatoes are easy to digest and are low in calories - they contain 50-90 kcal, depending on the variety. The compounds present in potatoes, including fiber, are rapidly absorbed by the digestive system and keep you feeling full for a long time. In addition, the vegetable is a source of starch and protein, rich in exogenous amino acids, in particular lysine.
However, you need to know that vitamins and minerals in the greatest amount "hide" under the skin of a potato. Therefore, if you peel a root vegetable by removing a thick layer of the peel, you are losing valuable substances. The same happens if the tubers are finely chopped and cooked for a long time. It is also worth saving the water in which the potatoes were boiled. On its basis, you can make a soup or, if you did not add salt, water the flowers with it after cooling.
Potatoes rarely cause allergies and do not accumulate heavy metals, nitrates and residues of plant protection products in large quantities. It is easy to grow and not very picky about soil. The root vegetable can be stored well in a cool place for a long time.
3. Potatoes have many names
There is probably no plant that has as many literary, dialect, regional and folk names as potatoes. There are a number of names in each country that only refer to the appearance of the tubers, especially the color of the skin, shape, size and flesh.
But not only dictionaries and books talk about potatoes. In the state of Idaho, USA, a museum is dedicated to potatoes, in Poland there are two monuments to tubers. Monuments have also been found in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. Many poems have been written about potatoes. It is worth recalling that 2008 was declared by the UN as the “year of the potato”.
4. Potatoes can be used to make 500 dishes
Probably, there is no such plant that would give such a choice. Potatoes go well with almost anything.
At first, poor people ate potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With a cheap, readily available product, they satisfied hunger. Over time, housewives have invented new ways to prepare the root vegetable. Today, there are already more than 500 types of dishes - side dishes, soups and vegetable salads are prepared from potatoes, it is the main component potato pancakes and dumplings, it is from it that French fries are made, baked potatoes with sauce or cottage cheese also take place be.
Thanks to potatoes, which were a staple in the impoverished corners of Europe, hunger disasters were averted. Unfortunately, in 1840-1844, an unknown disease destroyed the plantations of this vegetable. More than a million people (especially the Irish) died of hunger during those days.
5. Potatoes are not just food
Potatoes quickly became popular. In theory, no equipment is required to plant and dig it, and a small area can provide food for a family of several.
But the tubers weren't just used for food. They have proven useful in the alcoholic beverage industry. It was from them that alcohol was made.
Starch (aqueous suspension of starch) also proved to be an important intermediate which was used housewives when washing linen and bedding (the starched material did not absorb dust and moisture).
Potato flour, in turn, was an excellent substitute for baby powder, and added to the bath removed skin inflammation. With its help, you can prepare dry shampoo and powder. Tubers are used as animal feed in the past and today.
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