The culinary richness of Potato - Part I

Historically, I've been a lover of potatoes. In Venezuela, the Sunday magazine of the newspaper El Nacional, in a section of gastronomy local celebrities asked, What can not miss in your fridge?: In my case, answering this question, in the refrigerator in our house, never lack of potatoes. We love the potato dishes, eat them in salads, as appetizers, main course companion or even as a main dish when prepared as part of a protein recipe. The potato is comparable with wheat, corn and rice, that is, a major resource for feeding the world population. Together with maize was the staple diet of the inhabitants of pre-Columbian world. The Mayans and Aztecs more inclined to maize, the inhabitants of the Inca empire to the pope. Possibly, after the discovery of America, the pope was "finding" more importantly, it helps to solve the starvation of the unfortunate Europeans. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) originated in South America 8000 years ago near Lake Titicaca, which is 3800 meters above sea level in the Andes, South America, bordering Bolivia and Peru, where generations of farmers have created a massive amount of 5 500 varieties of this crop.

Brought to Europe by the Spanish in 1570, the Pope quickly adapted to the conditions and soon became a staple of the population. To England came in 1586, and the Netherlands in 1610. In 1613 the French despised the pope, the European aristocracy appreciated the flowers of the potato, but believed the tubers were only fit for pigs, until the king tasted it, and made his stewards to cultivate, making main food. In 1839, the Mexican Marquise ordered that after taking the soup, serve as "pot", a dish consisting of potatoes, chickpeas, cooked meat and other vegetables. Today they produce potatoes from China's Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine. Spain call it potato and influence of this, as they called Italy and Greece, and so "potatoes" in Turkish, "patatis" in Arabic, "potato" in English, "batata" in Portuguese, the French "pomme de terre" ("apple of the earth").

China leads the world annual production of potatoes with 73 million tons, followed by the Russian Federation with 36, then India with 25, Ukraine, United States with 19 tons. The potato contains several vitamins, including vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. Among the various minerals which are worth quoting in potato calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium for its importance in human nutrition. Potatoes are a delight to millions of people around the world. Is the subject of various regional cuisines of many countries. Spain international has made Spanish omelette. I still remember the taste of glory left me, I ate the tortilla in the Paseo La Ramblas for over 25 years. France last century popularized the famous vichyssoise soup, the Italians prepared potato gnocchi, the German sausage dishes accompanied with potato salad, fries in Latin America and the cause of Huancayo are classic dishes from Peru, Americans popularized baked potatoes and of course fries. Argentina in the kitchen accompany the schnitzel dish with mashed potatoes, just one of my favorite dishes my mom Cristina and is the recipe for this week.

As we see, the potato is cooked, parboiled, roasted, skips, fry. Involved in purees, creams, soups, soufflés, croquettes, tortillas and pastries. Moreover, from the fermentation of tubers obtained several alcoholic beverages as a variety of vodka, aquavit Scandinavian, brennivín Icelandic, Japanese shochu. Next week we continue with Part II of this article. See you soon friends .. Write to juliopena@dalilasgourmet.com or contact us via our website: www.dalilasgourmet.com

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