Waxy or starchy? New or dried? Here’s how to spot the potatoes you’re likely to find at the grocery store or farmer’s market (+ the best ways to cook them).
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 Bioingene | 2023-04-27 07:41:44 |  2,118 Views |
Potatoes 101: Everything You Need to Know About Them
Serious Mealtimes / Vicky Wasik
Potatoes are so ingrained in North American culinary culture that it’s funny to think that they weren’t cultivated here until the 19th century. They originated in the Andes Mountains of South America where Spanish explorers first encountered them in the 16th century and brought them back to Europe. Potatoes didn’t come to the U.S. and Canada directly from South America but in a roundabout way when Irish immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the mid-19th century. Before that potatoes had been introduced to India China and Japan in the 17th century and in the 19th century European missionaries and colonists spread their cultivation to East Africa. Potatoes are well-suited to a variety of climates can produce relatively high yields and store well for long periods of time. They thrive all over the world. Today they are the world’s most popular vegetable.
There are about 4000 different types of potatoes in the world most of which are found only in the Andes and not in your local supermarket. These starchy tubers which are members of the nightshade family (along with eggplant tomatoes and peppers) have a reputation as a comfort food not a health food. But potatoes are actually quite nutritious with more potassium than bananas and high levels of vitamin C. Sailors once ate them to prevent scurvy. They’re also rich in vitamin B6 zinc and iron.
