Potato: a Global History PDF
Preview Potato: a Global History
Potato A Global History Andrew F.Smith the edible series Edible Series Editor: Andrew F. Smith is a revolutionary new series of books dedicated to food and drink that explores the rich history of cuisine. Each book reveals the global history and culture of one type of food or beverage. Already published Cake Nicola Humble Lobster Elisabeth Townsend Caviar Nichola Fletcher Milk Hannah Velten Cheese Andrew Dalby Pancake Ken Albala Chocolate Sarah Moss and Pie Janet Clarkson AlexanderBadenoch Pizza Carol Helstosky Curry Colleen Taylor Sen Sandwich Bee Wilson Dates Nawal Nasrallah Spices Fred Czarra Hamburger AndrewF. Smith Soup Janet Clarkson Hot Dog BruceKraig Tea Helen Saberi Ice Cream Laura B. Weiss Whiskey Kevin R. Kosar Potato A Global History Andrew F. Smith Published by Reaktion Books Ltd Great Sutton Street London , www.reaktionbooks.co.uk First published Copyright © Andrew F. Smith All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed and bound in China by C&C Offset Printing Co. Ltd British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Smith, Andrew F., – Potato: a global history.–(Edible) . Potatoes –History.. Potato products –History. . Cooking (Potatoes) . Title . Series .(cid:0)- : Contents Introduction 7 1 The Wild and Domesticated Potato 10 2 The Potato Diaspora 21 3 The European Potato Famine 36 4 The Culinary Potato 53 5 The Commercial Potato 71 6 The Cultural Potato 90 7 The Global Potato Today and Tomorrow 102 Recipes 115 References 127 Select Bibliography 129 Websites and Associations 132 Acknowledgements 136 Photo Acknowledgements 138 Index 139 Introduction The potato’s history is a rags-to-riches story, from its obscure beginnings in the Andes mountains of South America in pre- Columbian times to its global stardom today. There are many reasons for the potato’s success: it thrives at high altitudes and in arid climates where other staple crops, such as wheat, rice and corn (maize) can’t grow; it has a fairlyshort growing season (days); and it requires relatively little effort to culti - vate and harvest, for which the only tool needed is a spade – for planting, weeding and digging up the potatoes. Potatoes are also prolific. A single plant produces an average of . pounds ( kg) of potatoes, but productivity can be much greater. The Guinness World Records credits the Englishman Eric Jenkins with growing more than lb ( kg) of potatoes from a single tuber. Thenthere’sthepotato’snutritionalcontent. Amedium- sized raw potato contains a mere one hundred calories and isagoodsourceof vitamins and, andof minerals in cludingiron, potassiumandzinc. If theskiniseaten, the potatoisanexcellentsourceof dietaryfibre. Potatoescon- tainnofatorcholesterol, andarealso lowinsodium. They areafinecompo nentof ahealthful, balanceddietif theyare prepared simply and sauced or flavoured with ingredients Mashed potato soda.
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