He also ordered the guards to be kind of lax, allowing people to go in and steal the potatoes to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently being aware of reverse psychology, Frederick decided to order his guards to protect his potato field in order to pique the interest of the locals. The subjects, however, refused, because eating food from the ground seemed gross. As king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, Frederick wanted to encourage his subjects to eat potatoes because of how healthy they were. The most famous example of this involves Frederick the Great, also known as the Potato King ( Der Kartoffelkönig). McNeil has argued that the potato helped fuel imperialism, writing, “By feeding rapidly growing populations, permitted a handful of European nations to assert dominion over most of the world between 17.”ĭespite being such a healthy food, the potato did not receive a very warm reception. A few centuries later, the potato was a major staple all over Europe, and some researchers suggest it helped end famines in Northern Europe.

The nutritional value of the potato was discovered by the Spanish first on their boats, when they found out that sailors who ate the potatoes didn’t suffer from scurvy. This was perhaps one of the biggest developments in European history. In the 1530s, shortly after the Spanish started colonizing South America, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera brought the potato back to Europe in place of the gold he was hoping to find. While not particularly attractive, chuño is great because of how long it can last without losing nutritional value, and it’s still used in a number of South American dishes. It is a very traditional dish that is enjoyed as part of a large lunch.

One of its most popular uses is in Chairo Paceño, a Bolivian stew that combines ancient ingredients including potatoes with ones that the Spanish brought over, including beef and lamb. While this is a very old process and may not sound appetizing, chuño is still around today. Eventually, farmers would squeeze out the water to make stiff potatoes, which apparently are like gnocchi. This was done by leaving the potatoes out during the winter so that they would freeze and thaw. Multiply also the fruits of the earth, the potatoes and other food that thou hast made, that men may not suffer from hunger and misery.ĭespite this, apparently pregnant women were told not to eat potatoes because it made their babies’ heads too big.īecause there were no refrigerators at the time, one of the most popular methods of preserving potatoes was making chuño. O Creator! Thou who givest life to all things and hast made men that they may live, and multiply. Because of their nutritional value, potatoes, or papas, were worshipped by the Incas with this prayer: The Inca in the area of Peru and Bolivia were the first to cultivate the crop some 10,000 years ago, with the more conservative estimate being that they started growing potatoes somewhere between 800 and 500 BCE. The story of the potato starts long before that. The potato is perhaps most associated with the Irish, for reasons we’ll get to below, but it wasn’t until the mid-1500s that the potato even made it to Europe. We collected five stories that tell you all about potato history, along with five recipes to get you excited about this important ingredient. The potato has played a major role in history, however, and it’s actually the fifth most popular crop in the world. Nowadays, it’s thought of as a boring food - just a side dish that fills up the plate. No matter what you call it, the potato has cemented its status as a cultural staple around the world.

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