Because they can be prepared and served in so many ways, it is no wonder this root vegetable is included in so many meals that we eat. Mashed for Thanksgiving, cut and deep-fried alongside your favorite burger, boiled along with other vegetables and seafood, roasted with fresh herbs, or even baked, hot and fluffy and oozing with butter, the potato is delicious just about any way you prepare it. Although often taken for granted, there is no denying that the potato is a mainstay in cuisines throughout North and South America as well as Europe. Even though it is a food that nearly everyone is familiar with, very few people know much about the origin, travels and importance of the potato. Many of us associate the potato with culinary uses in Europe
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This assumption, however, would be incorrect. It is believed by Archaeologists that potatoes were first discovered by the Incas more than 4.5 millennia ago, that is over 4,500 …show more content…
However, as happens often, we changed the rules. As more and more people began to prepare and enjoy the potato, without suffering its poisonous wrath, Irish Catholics didn’t want to be left out. So, in true religious fashion, it was declared that the potato was indeed holy enough to consume provided it was cultivated in a manner acceptable to the church. In order to be accepted by the Irish Catholic Church, the potato was then to be sprinkled with Holy Water and planted on Good Friday. Dilemma solved, the potato became hugely important to the Irish. As you might expect, after having over-come so many obstacles, the potato became a mainstay during the Industrial Revolution because it could be cultivated, harvested, preserved and prepared cheaply to feed the explosion of factory workers who were needed during the late 1700s. We came to rely on the potato; so much so that the Great Potato Famine of the mid-19th century killed or displaced millions of Irish when the crops failed. Of course, the potato survived throughout this time and became and still remains incredibly important in Europe as well as the United
This assumption, however, would be incorrect. It is believed by Archaeologists that potatoes were first discovered by the Incas more than 4.5 millennia ago, that is over 4,500 …show more content…
However, as happens often, we changed the rules. As more and more people began to prepare and enjoy the potato, without suffering its poisonous wrath, Irish Catholics didn’t want to be left out. So, in true religious fashion, it was declared that the potato was indeed holy enough to consume provided it was cultivated in a manner acceptable to the church. In order to be accepted by the Irish Catholic Church, the potato was then to be sprinkled with Holy Water and planted on Good Friday. Dilemma solved, the potato became hugely important to the Irish. As you might expect, after having over-come so many obstacles, the potato became a mainstay during the Industrial Revolution because it could be cultivated, harvested, preserved and prepared cheaply to feed the explosion of factory workers who were needed during the late 1700s. We came to rely on the potato; so much so that the Great Potato Famine of the mid-19th century killed or displaced millions of Irish when the crops failed. Of course, the potato survived throughout this time and became and still remains incredibly important in Europe as well as the United