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History of the potato
Potato originates from South America, where this plant can still be found in the wild. It was on the territory of South America that potatoes began to be cultivated as a cultivated plant. The Indians ate it, in addition, the potato was considered a living being, the local population worshiped him. The spread of potatoes around the world began with the Spanish conquest of new territories. In their reports, the Spaniards described the local population, as well as the plants that were eaten. Among them was a potato, which at that time had not yet received the name we were used to, then it was called a truffle.
A significant contribution to the spread of potatoes in European countries was made by the historian Pedro Cieza de Leon. In 1551, he brought this vegetable to Spain, and in 1553 he wrote an essay in which he described the history of the discovery of potatoes, their taste and nutritional properties, the rules for preparing and storing them.
From Spain, potatoes spread to Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and other European countries. Potato began to be valued as an ornamental plant, it was practically not eaten, considering it poisonous. Later, the nutritional and taste properties of the potato were confirmed, and it became widely known as a food product.
❧ The most expensive potato in the world is the LaBonnotte variety, which is grown on the island of Noirmoutier. Its yield is only 100 tons per year. The tuber is exceptionally tender, so it is only harvested by hand.
In Russia potatoes came thanks to Peter I. At the end of the 17th century. he sent a bag of potato tubers from Holland and ordered them to be distributed throughout the provinces so that they could grow it there. Potatoes became widespread only under Catherine II.
The peasants did not know how to properly grow and consume potatoes. Because of the many poisonings, it was considered a poisonous plant. As a result, the peasants refused to plant this crop, and this caused several "potato riots". By royal decree in 1840-1842. A mass planting of potatoes was carried out throughout the country. Its cultivation was under strict control. As a result, by the end of the XIX century. Potato plantings began to occupy large areas. It got the name "second bread" as it became one of the staple foods.
❧ There is a museum in Belgium dedicated to the potato. There you can find many exhibits depicting this plant - these are postage stamps and paintings by famous artists, such as Van Gogh's Potato Eaters.
Useful properties of potatoes
Potatoes contain a large amount of potassium, which helps to remove salt and excess water from the body. Because of this, potatoes are often used in dietary nutrition. But it is worth considering that potatoes contain a high amount of carbohydrates, so they should not be carried away by people who are prone to fullness. Potatoes are an indispensable assistant in the fight against gastritis, stomach ulcers and duodenal ulcers, it has an alkalizing effect, which is undeniably important for people suffering from high acidity. In addition to starch, potatoes contain ascorbic acid, various vitamins and proteins.
Where did the potato come to Europe and when? and got the best answer
Answer from Just))[guru]
Potatoes are one of America's main gifts to the Old World in the Age of Discovery. As British historians describe, the ship with the first tubers, having completed its transatlantic journey, arrived at the shores of Great Britain on December 3, 1586. The potato was introduced from what is now Colombia by Sir Thomas Harriet. After that, an already unknown vegetable began its journey across the continent and different parts of the world. Over the past centuries, it has gained such a strong position in the cuisines of different countries that it has received the status of a "national" dish.
Some historians argue that potatoes could have appeared in Europe a few years earlier. There is even a version that potatoes came to Europe thanks to the famous pirate Francis Drake, who brought them in 1580. However, there is no exact date other than December 3, 1586. Although another date is connected with the history of potatoes: in 1533, the Spaniard Cheza de Leon, who described the tubers in the book Chronicles of Peru.
Source: the Internet
Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Where did the potato come to Europe and when?
Answer from Baby[guru]
From America!
Answer from Sourire[guru]
Potato is native to South America. Potatoes were grown on a vast area of the central plateau in the Andes, from the ancient city of Cusco to Lake Titicaca. According to the American botanist D. Yudzhent, for the first time, the indigenous people of Peru began to cultivate potatoes 12 thousand years ago. The scientist came to such conclusions on the basis of studying the remains of potatoes discovered during excavations by archaeologists of the ancient settlements of the Peruvian Indians.
The Indians used potatoes for food in the form of a chuno product - a kind of "canned food". Chuno was obtained as follows: potato tubers were repeatedly frozen at night, dried in the sun during the day - dried tubers were obtained. Chunyo product could be stored for 3-4 years. In our country, food from chuno would hardly have caused delight, and in the life of the Indians this product played a paramount role. It is not surprising that the Indians deified the potato, worshiped its spirits, arranged magnificent celebrations in its honor, and made human sacrifices as a gift. Celebrating the harvest festival, the Indians of Ecuador sacrificed 100 children each. When Europeans first attended this festival, the sacrificial ritual was already far less cruel and monstrous; only a lamb was sacrificed and potatoes were sprinkled with its blood, and children, smartly dressed on the occasion of the celebration, only carried potato tubers in baskets.
The first Europeans to see potatoes were the sailors of H. Columbus. Here is how the first biographer of Columbus wrote about potatoes: “Colon (i.e. Columbus) discovered one island of Hispaniola (Haiti), whose inhabitants eat special root bread. On a small bush grow tubers the size of a pear or a small pumpkin; when they ripen, they dig them out of the ground in the same way as we do it with turnips or radishes, dry them in the sun, chop them, grind them into flour and bake bread from it ... "
I saw potatoes in Peru and the conquistador Francisco Pissarro with his thugs, but they were not at all interested in a nondescript plant, Inca gold was on their minds. But it aroused the interest of the 13-year-old boy Pedro Chiesa de Leon, who was in the detachment of the conquistadors and did not care about gold: he was amazed at the life of the inhabitants of Peru. In 1553, Pedro Chiesa de Leon published in Spain the book Chronicle of Peru, where he introduces Europeans to an amazing country and its inhabitants. From the same book, Europeans learned about the existence of potatoes.
In Europe, the potato became known around 1565, and it has not yet been established exactly who first introduced it. It is most likely that the Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe: along with the looted wealth of the New World, they brought outlandish animals and plants. There is another version based on documents: the potato was first brought to Europe by Francis Drake - the infamous "pirate of Queen Elizabeth". Drake was not only an unsurpassed master of sea robbery, but also made important geographical discoveries, was fond of collecting the flora and fauna of America.
As an overseas curiosity, potatoes were first planted in botanical gardens. Systematic botanists found themselves in a difficult position: how to classify a plant, to what genus it belongs. To begin with, the foreign plant was left with the Indian name "dad" (as the Indians of Peru called the potato). Then, due to the similarity with sweet potato to form underground tubers, English botanists called it sweet potato (in English potato). Only in 1590, the Swiss botanist Bowchen, on the basis of the structure of the flower and fruits, came to the conclusion that the overseas plant is closely related to plants of the nightshade genus well known to botanists. Bowhen gave the name to a plant from America - solyanum tuberosum esculentum, which means tuberous edible nightshade. Subsequently, this specific name for the plant was finally assigned to K. Linnaeus. The British, however, have retained the former name for the potato - potato, and they had to call the real sweet potato sweet potato.
Answer from Kostya Vlasov[guru]
From time immemorial, this annual herbaceous plant from the nightshade family with white or purple flowers has gained fame as the first vegetable among the peoples of different countries. Two millennia ago, the Indians of Peru knew how to cook "chunio" potatoes, for which the chopped tubers were left overnight under the open sky, crushed in the morning, then dried and received a kind of canned potato suitable for long-term storage. Potatoes came to Europe many centuries later. It is believed that the famous pirate of the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, Vice Admiral Francis Drake, took the mysterious tubers of this wonderful plant from South America, for which later grateful descendants erected a monument to him with the following inscription on the pedestal: “To Sir Francis Drake, who spread potatoes in Europe. 1580. Millions of farmers around the world bless his immortal memory. This is help to the poor, a precious gift of God, alleviating bitter need.
However, for a long time, Europeans treated the potato with great distrust and did not dare to eat it, but recognized it only as food for pigs. The Parisian pharmacist Antoine Parmentier once treated the king of France to boiled potatoes, who liked this dish so much that he began to wear potato flowers on his ceremonial camisole, and the queen adorned her hair with them. But ordinary people still avoided eating "ground" or "damn" apples. Then Parmentier, in his garden next to the potato beds, attached signs with a request ... do not get close to the plant. The forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, and after a few days all the neighbors of the cunning pharmacist began to plant potatoes in their gardens.
The potato culture did not immediately take root in Russia either, since the clergy and Old Believers in every possible way prevented the spread of the plant. And in the middle of the last century, a wave of “potato riots” swept through many Russian provinces, when the peasants refused to plant “damn” apples, or “unclean fruits of the underworld”.
Now potatoes are valued not only as the first vegetable, from which cooks can cook more than 300 dishes, but also as a medicinal plant. White, red or purple potato tubers are a real chemical laboratory. They contain up to twenty-five percent starch, which has long been used in medical practice as a gentle anti-inflammatory and enveloping agent for gastrointestinal disorders, as well as for the preparation of pharmaceutical tablets. Tubers are rich in fiber, pectin and other carbohydrates, as well as proteins, amino acids, vitamins B, C, PP, carotene, organic acids, especially citric and malic, mineral salts, lipids and other compounds. And the specific "potato" smell of tubers is due to the presence of essential oil in them.
This vegetable is likely to take second place in terms of prevalence. Africa or America, Europe or Asia - regardless of the continent, people all over the world enjoy it. We are so accustomed to it that we no longer consider it something new, and even more so we do not classify it as a delicacy. We are talking about the potato we have known for a long time. Let's remember the time when it was not yet so widespread, learn about some of the tragedies associated with its loss, and find out why it is still so appreciated in Russia. However, let's start from where it spread throughout the world. What became the birthplace of the potato? Is it Europe or another place?
It has long been believed that potatoes came to us from the homeland of the potato - Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Even today, in our time, in the Andes, you can see how potatoes grow in the wild. There, at an altitude of more than a kilometer, you can find tubers of almost all currently known varieties. According to scientists, in ancient times, the Indians in that area could breed and cross varieties of various plants, including potatoes. The very first information about potatoes came from a Spaniard, a participant in the military campaign of Julian de Castellanos in 1535. According to him, even the Spaniards liked the mealy root crop of this plant. True, few people paid attention to his words. So you can briefly describe how the history of the origin of the potato (its distribution) began.
How culture came to Europe
We find further descriptions of the potato in the Chronicle of Peru by Pedro Chiesa de Leone. He described this plant in great detail and clearly. The history of the emergence of potatoes interested the king of Spain, who gave the order to bring a huge amount of this overseas product. Thus, thanks to Spain, the homeland of the potato - South America - supplied the whole of Europe with this vegetable. First he came to Italy, and later to Belgium. After that, the mayor of Mons (Belgium) handed over several tubers for research to his arc and a friend in Vienna. And only his acquaintance, also a botanist, described the potato in detail in his work "On Plants". Thanks to him, the potato got its own scientific name - Solyanum tuberosum esculentum (tuberous nightshade). After a while, his description of the potato and the very name of the garden crop became generally recognized.
In Ireland
The time came for Ireland, and in the 1590s the potato arrived there. There he gained universal recognition due to the fact that he took root well even in relatively unfavorable conditions. Regardless of the climate, wet or dry, mild or changeable, regardless of whether the tubers were planted in fertile or infertile soil, potatoes bore fruit. Therefore, it spread so much that in the 1950s, at least a third of the entire area suitable for agriculture was planted with potato plantations. More than half of the harvest was directed to food for people. Thus, potatoes began to be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything would be fine, but suddenly there would be a crop failure? What would the Irish eat in this case? They didn't want to think about it.
Consequences of crop failures
If earlier it happened that the potatoes did not bring the expected harvest, then certain efforts were made to provide the necessary assistance to the victims. And if the next year it was again possible to collect the required amount of root crop, this covered the shortcomings of the previous period. So, in 1845 there was another crop failure. However, no one was worried about the reasons for what happened. It must be said that at that time they still did not know much about late blight - because of which it was not possible to collect the required amount of vegetable. A fungus that infects tubers leads to rotting of potatoes in the ground, and even after harvesting from the fields. In addition, fungal spores of the disease are easily spread by airborne droplets. And due to the fact that only one variety of potatoes was planted in Ireland at that time, the entire crop quickly died. The same thing happened in the next few years, which led first to unemployment, and then to hunger in the country. Indirectly, this affected the outbreak of cholera, which in 1849 killed more than 36 thousand people. The story of the potato, with such an unfortunate turn of events, resulted in the state losing over a quarter of its population.
Potatoes: the history of appearance in Russia
Gradually, the culture spread in the countries of Europe, as we saw in the example of Ireland, and at the very beginning of the eighteenth century it first appeared in Russia. In those years, Peter I was passing through Holland. There he had the opportunity to taste dishes made from potatoes (at that time, as today, they did not suspect that South America was the birthplace of the potato). After tasting the culinary innovation, the Russian sovereign noted the original taste of potato fruits. Since this delicacy did not yet exist in Russia, he decided to send a bag of potatoes to his homeland. Thus began the history of potatoes in Russia.
In chernozem, as well as in soils of medium acidity, the new culture took root well. However, ordinary people still looked at this miracle vegetable with apprehension, because due to ignorance of the correct methods of its preparation, numerous cases of poisoning occurred. How to make sure that the distribution of potatoes is put on a grand scale? Peter I was a smart man and figured out what could be done for this. Tubers were planted in several fields, and guards were posted nearby, who served during the day, but left the fields at night. This aroused great curiosity among ordinary peasants, and they began at night, while no one was looking, to steal a new vegetable and plant it in their fields. However, at that time it still did not receive widespread distribution. There were a lot of those who "managed" to be poisoned by its berries. Therefore, the "damn apple" was basically refused to be grown by ordinary people. For as much as 50-60 years, the miracle vegetable was forgotten in Russia.
How did the potato become famous?
Later, Catherine II played a big role in making potatoes universally recognized. However, the main impetus for the spread of root crops was the famine that occurred in the 1860s. It was then that they remembered everything that they had previously neglected, and were surprised to find that the potato has an excellent taste and is very nutritious. As they say, "there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped."
Here is such an interesting history of potatoes in Russia. So, over time, they began to plant throughout the country. People soon realized how useful the supply of this vegetable is, especially in times of crop failure. Until now, potatoes are considered the second bread, because, having sufficient stocks of it in the cellar, you can live even in difficult times. Thanks to their calorie content and benefits, to this day, the first thing that is planted in the garden is potato tubers.
Why potatoes are so popular in Russia
Since the time of Peter I, people have not immediately learned about the chemical and nutritional value of this root crop for the human body. However, the history of the potato shows that it contains the substances necessary for survival in times of famine, disease and misfortune. What is so valuable and useful in this ordinary root crop? It turns out that its proteins contain almost all the amino acids that we could find in plant foods. Three hundred grams of this vegetable is enough to satisfy the daily requirement of potassium, phosphorus and carbohydrates. Potatoes, especially fresh ones, are rich in vitamin C and fiber. Moreover, it contains other elements necessary for life, such as iron, zinc, manganese, iodine, sodium and even calcium. Moreover, most of the nutrients are found in the peel of potatoes, which today is very often not eaten. However, in times of famine, ordinary people did not neglect it and ate whole potatoes, baked or boiled.
Growing the only one and the consequences of it
As we have already learned, the homeland of potatoes is South America. There, farmers acted wisely, breeding root crops of different varieties. So, only some of them were susceptible to the disease - fungal late blight. Therefore, even if such varieties died, it would not entail such terrible disasters as in Ireland. The fact that in nature there are varieties of the same culture protects people from this kind of misfortune. However, if you grow only one variety of fruits, then this can lead to what once happened in Ireland. As well as the use of various chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which have a particularly adverse effect on natural cycles and the ecology in general.
Why is it profitable to grow only one variety of potatoes
What in this case, including in Russia, encourages farmers to grow only one particular variety of potatoes? This is mainly influenced by marketability and economic factors. Thus, farmers can bet on the beautiful appearance of the fruit, which means more demand from buyers. Also, the emergence of a standard crop can be explained by the fact that a certain variety of potato brings a larger yield in a particular area than others. However, as we have learned, this approach can have far-reaching adverse effects.
The Colorado potato beetle is the main enemy of Russian gardeners
Insect pests can cause great damage to crops. One species of leaf beetle is very familiar to every gardener or farmer - it was first discovered in 1859 how much difficulty this insect can bring to potato cultivation. And in the 1900s, the beetle reached Europe. When he was brought here by chance, he quickly covered the entire continent, including Russia. Due to its resistance to chemicals that are used to combat it, this beetle is almost the main enemy of every gardener. Therefore, in order to do away with this pest, in addition to chemicals, agrotechnical methods began to be used. And now in Russia, every summer resident who wants to feast on homemade potatoes fried or baked in the coals of a fire, first has to get acquainted with simple methods of dealing with this pest.
Andes - home of the potato
It is said that the outline of South America resembles the back of a huge animal, whose head is located in the north, and gradually tapering tail - in the south. If so, then this animal suffers from obvious scoliosis, because its spine is displaced to the west. The Andes mountain system stretches along the Pacific coast for many thousands of kilometers. On the western spurs, the combination of high snow-covered peaks and cold ocean currents creates unusual conditions for the circulation of air masses and water precipitation. Rainy areas are combined with desert ones. The rivers are short and rapids. Stony soils almost do not pass moisture.
The Western Andes seem absolutely unpromising in terms of agricultural development. But, oddly enough, it was they who became one of the first regions of our planet where agriculture originated. About 10 thousand years ago, the Indians who lived in it learned to grow pumpkin plants. Then they mastered the cultivation of cotton, peanuts and potatoes. Generation after generation, locals dug winding canals to stop the rapid flow of rivers, and built stone terraces along the mountain slopes, to which fertile soil was brought from afar. If they had draft animals capable of carrying heavy loads, and at the same time producing manure, it would make life much easier for them. But the Indians of the Western Andes had neither cattle, nor horses, nor even wheeled carts.
Potato flowers in my summer cottage
Charles Darwin, who visited the west coast of South America in 1833, discovered a wild variety of potato there. “The tubers were for the most part crayons, although I found one oval, two inches in diameter,” wrote the naturalist, “they were in all respects like English potatoes and even had the same smell, but when boiled they were very wrinkled and became watery and tasteless, completely devoid of bitter taste. Bitter taste? It seems that the cultural potato of the time of Charles Darwin differed from the wild one in about the same way as from ours. Modern geneticists are sure that cultivated potatoes originated not from one, but from two crossed wild varieties.Today, in the markets of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador, you can find potato tubers of various types and tastes. This is the result of centuries of selection in various closed mountain areas. However, like us, the inhabitants of these countries prefer to eat starchy, well-boiled potatoes. Starch is the main nutrient for which this plant is valued. Potatoes also have a set of beneficial vitamins, with the exception of A and D. They have less protein and calories than cereals. But potatoes are not as whimsical as corn or wheat. It grows equally well on barren dry and waterlogged soils. In some cases the tubers sprout and even produce new tubers without soil and without sunlight. Probably, for this, the Andean Indians fell in love with him.
This is what dry chuno looks like
In Peruvian and Bolivian historiography, there is a real battle over which region of the Andes to declare the oldest place where the cultivation of potatoes began. The fact is that the oldest find of tubers in human housing belongs to the northern Peruvian region of Ancon. These tubers are no less than 4.5 thousand years old. Bolivian historians rightly note that the tubers found could be wild. But on their territory, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, an ancient potato field was found. It was cultivated in the IV century BC.
One way or another, by the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, potatoes were well known to many Andean peoples. They made chuño potatoes - white or black starchy balls. They were made in the following way. The collected tubers were carried to the mountains, where they froze at night, then thawed during the day, then froze again and thawed again. Periodically they were crushed. In the process of freezing-thawing, dehydration occurred. Unlike ordinary potatoes, dry chuño can be stored for many years. However, it does not lose its nutritional qualities. Before use, chuno was ground into flour, from which cakes were baked, added to soup, boiled meat and vegetables.
Difficult conquest of Europe
In 1532, a detachment of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca empire and annexed the Andes region to the Spanish kingdom. In 1535, the first written mention of the South American potato appeared. It was the Spaniards who brought potatoes from South America to Europe. But when and under what circumstances did this happen?
Until recently, it was believed that the first potato tubers appeared in Spain around 1570. They could be brought by sailors returning from Peru or Chile to their homeland. Scientists suspected that only one variety of potato came to Europe, and the one that was grown on the coast of Chile. A 2007 study showed that this is not entirely true. The first plantings of potatoes outside the Western Hemisphere began to be made in the Canary Islands, where ships stopped between the New and Old Worlds. Potato gardens have been mentioned in the Canary Islands since 1567. The study of modern varieties of Canarian tubers showed that their ancestors really came here directly from South America, and not from one place, but from several at once. Consequently, potatoes were delivered to the Canary Islands several times, and from there they were brought to Spain as an exotic vegetable, well known to the Canarians.
There are many legends about the spread of potatoes. For example, the Spaniards attribute the delivery of the first tubers to the special order of King Philip II. The British are sure that the potato came to them directly from America thanks to the pirates Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. The Irish believe that Irish mercenaries brought potatoes to their country from Spain. The Poles say that the first Polish potato was presented to King Jan Sobieski by Emperor Leopold for the defeat of the Turks near Vienna. Finally, the Russians believe that the potato took root in Russia thanks to Peter I. Add to this the stories of various tricks and even violence that wise sovereigns allegedly resorted to in order to force their subjects to grow a useful plant. Most of these legends and stories are just anecdotes or misconceptions.
The real story of the spread of potatoes is much more interesting than any legends. Lest the British imagine, all European potatoes have the same origin from the Canarian and Spanish potatoes. From the Iberian Peninsula, he came to the Spanish possessions in Italy and the Netherlands. By the beginning of the 17th century, in northern Italy, in Flanders and Holland, it was no longer a rarity. In the rest of Europe, the first potato growers were botanists. They sent each other the tubers of this still exotic plant and grew potatoes in gardens among flowers and medicinal herbs. From the botanical gardens, potatoes got to the gardens.
The promotion of potatoes in Europe cannot be called too successful. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, a variety that had a bitter taste was spreading in Europe. Remember Charles Darwin's remark about the English potato? Secondly, the leaves and fruits of potatoes contain the poison corned beef, which makes the tops of the plant inedible for livestock. Thirdly, storing potatoes requires some skill, otherwise corned beef is also formed in the tubers, or they simply rot. Thanks to this, the most bad rumors spread about the potato. It was believed that it causes various diseases. Even in those countries where potatoes found admirers among the peasants, they were usually fed to cattle. It was rarely eaten, more often in famine years or from poverty. There were exceptions when potatoes were served at the table of kings or nobles, but only in very small portions as a culinary exotic.
A separate case is the history of the potato in Ireland. He got there in the 16th century thanks to fishermen from the Basque country. They took tubers with them as additional provisions when they sailed to the shores of distant Newfoundland. On the way back, they stopped in the west of Ireland, where they traded in the catch and the remains of what they stocked up for the journey. Due to the humid climate and rocky soils, Western Ireland has never been famous for its crops of cereal crops, except for oats. The Irish didn't even build mills. When potatoes were added to the rather boring oatmeal, even the bitter taste was forgiven. Ireland was one of the few countries in Europe where eating potatoes was considered the norm. Until the 19th century, only one variety with a wrinkled skin, white flesh and low starch content was known here. Usually it was added to the "stew" - a concoction of everything in the world, which was eaten with bread from unground grain. In the 18th century, potatoes saved poor Irish people from starvation, but in the 19th century they caused a national disaster.
potato revolution
Antoine Auguste Parmentier presenting potato flowers to the King and Queen
XVIII - XIX centuries became the era of the Great Potato Revolution. During this period, there was rapid population growth throughout the world. In 1798, the English thinker Thomas Malthus discovered that it was growing faster than the economy and agriculture were developing. It would seem that the world was threatened with inevitable famine. But, at least in Europe, this did not happen. Salvation from starvation brought potatoes.
The Dutch and Flemings were the first to appreciate the economic value of the potato. They had long ago given up on labor-intensive crops, preferring to develop the more profitable stable farming, which in turn required large amounts of fodder. At first, the Dutch fed their cows and pigs with turnips, but then they relied on potatoes. And they didn't lose! Potatoes grew well even on poor soils and were much more nutritious. The experience of the Dutch and Flemings came in handy in other countries, when wheat crop failures became more frequent. To save feed grain for food, cattle were fed potatoes.
In the second half of the 18th century, the crops of this crop steadily expanded. In the middle of the 18th century they also appeared on the territory of Belarus. In Russia, Catherine II was concerned about the development of potato growing. But even at the beginning of the 19th century, in the central Russian regions, potatoes were perceived as a curiosity, which was sometimes ordered from abroad.
The introduction of potatoes into the permanent diet of Europeans was due to wars and fashion. In 1756, the countries of Europe were engulfed in the Seven Years' War. Its participant was the French physician Antoine Auguste Parmentier. He fell into Prussian captivity, where for several years he was forced to eat and even be treated with potatoes. After the end of the war, A. O. Parmentier became a real champion of this plant. He wrote articles about potatoes, served potato dishes at dinner parties, and even presented ladies with potato flowers.
The efforts of the doctor were noticed by well-known figures of France at that time, among whom were the minister Anne Turgot and Queen Marie Antoinette. She gladly introduced boiled potatoes to the menu of the royal table and wore potato flowers on her dress. The queen's innovations were taken up by her subjects and other monarchs. Frederick of Prussia is credited with pranking Voltaire. He allegedly treated him to potatoes, and then asked how many such fruits grow on trees in his state, but the great educator was not enlightened what kind of fruit it was and what it grew on.
Real success came to potatoes during the Napoleonic wars of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Military operations were accompanied by the destruction of grain crops. Meanwhile, a lot of food was required for the soldiers and their horses. Potatoes have become a salvation for the broad masses of the population. Marie-Henri Bayle, also known as the French writer Stendhal, told how, during the famine of the Franco-Russian War of 1812, he fell to his knees when he saw nutritious tubers in front of him.
Bread, cheese, salted fish, potatoes and cabbage became the main food of European workers during the era of the industrial revolution. But, if in hungry winters the price of bread rose so that it became inaccessible to the poor, then potatoes always remained affordable. Many workers kept vegetable gardens in the suburbs, where potatoes were planted. However, an excessive passion for potato dishes turned into a tragedy for one people.
Great Famine in Ireland
As mentioned above, the Irish began to widely eat potatoes long before the advertising campaign of A. O. Parmentier. In the 18th century, with population growth and a reduction in the area of \u200b\u200bpeasant plots, the Irish increasingly had to sow fields not with oats, but with more productive potatoes. The British authorities only encouraged this practice. “By laws, regulations, counter-regulations and executions, the government has introduced potatoes into Ireland, and therefore its population greatly exceeds that of Sicily; in other words, it was possible to place several million peasants here, downtrodden and stupefied, crushed by labor and want, dragging out a miserable life in swamps for forty or fifty years, ”Stendhal emotionally described the situation.
Ireland's growing population was poor but not starving until Phytophthora, a disease of nightshade and some related plants caused by microscopic, fungal-like organisms called oomycetes, was accidentally introduced to Europe. The birthplace of phytophthora is not the Andean region, where potatoes have been cultivated for many millennia, but Mexico, where the Spaniards brought potatoes. The Mexicans were not avid potato eaters and generally fans of nightshade crops, so they were not particularly worried about tuber disease.
In 1843, the disease was reported in the eastern United States, where it could have come along with seed from Mexico. In 1845, seed potatoes from the United States were brought to Belgium, and from Belgium the disease spread to other European countries. Neither scientists, nor even peasants and officials, have yet understood what phytophthora is, where it came from, and how to deal with it. They just saw that the crop was rotting right in the fields. The situation was worsened by the fact that all European varieties had a single origin, and oomycetes found a favorable environment here.
When the first major potato crop failure occurred in Ireland in 1845, the British authorities imported seed from Belgium, and wheat and corn were distributed to peasants left without food. The Irish sold the wheat to English merchants and threw away the unfamiliar corn. But the next year, the potato crop failure was repeated again, and on an even larger scale. Famine flared up among the population addicted to potatoes. It lasted for several years and was accompanied by epidemic diseases - the eternal companions of malnutrition. The 1841 census recorded 8,175,124 inhabitants in Ireland - about the same as in our time. In 1851, they counted 6,552,385 people. Thus, the population decreased by 1.5 million people. It is believed that about 22 thousand died of hunger, a little more than 400 thousand from diseases. The rest emigrated.
In modern Ireland, potatoes continue to play a big role in nutrition, but still the Irish are inferior to Belarusians in the production and consumption of potatoes.
How Belarusians began to eat potatoes
King and Grand Duke August III. During his reign, Belarusians began to grow potatoes
In Belarus and Lithuania, potatoes began to be grown in the middle of the 18th century, but until the first half of the 20th century, they did not play a special role in nutrition. They cooked lean stew from it, added it to bread, rarely baked it and ate it as an independent dish. Potato starch was used much more often, which, however, was considered low-grade, like potato vodka. From the mass left after squeezing out the starchy liquid, they prepared cheap cereals that went into the soup. Belarusians preferred flour dishes to potatoes. This applied even to poor peasants. It is characteristic that in Yakub Kolas' biographical poem "New Land" potatoes are mentioned only twice. Once uncle Anton cooks dumplings from it. The second time the mother feeds her pigs. But the word "bread" occurs 39 times in the poem.
Nevertheless, in the 19th century, potato plantations in Belarus were constantly expanding. The main fans of this plant were the landowners. For political reasons, the Russian imperial authorities limited their economic opportunities, so they had to rely on a highly productive economy. Potatoes were grown as fodder and industrial crops. They fed not only pigs, but also cows, sheep, chickens and turkeys. Starch, sweet molasses, yeast were made from potatoes, low-grade alcohol was driven. In the household, grated potatoes were used to wash fabrics.
The potato revolution in Belarus began during the First World War and then the Soviet-Polish war, which lasted from 1914 to 1921. Then potatoes began to be widely eaten due to a shortage of grain. It is curious that in the peaceful 1920s, potato consumption did not decrease, but even increased. Moreover, both in Soviet and in Western Belarus. The reason for this was several lean years for grain crops. The subsequent collectivization led to the reduction of individual peasant allotments to the size of small gardens, on which it became unprofitable to grow rye or wheat. But potatoes planted on several acres could feed the family even in the most difficult famine years.
In the post-war period, there was an expansion of potato fields both in homestead and collective farms. In fact, the trend towards an increase in potato plantings was set by the all-Union leadership, but it was clearly followed only in our republic. From a subsistence industry, potato growing was turned into a science-intensive one. In the BSSR, their own varieties of potatoes were created, and their processing was established. In my opinion, it was not so much the foresight of the Belarusian leadership that was to blame, but the desire for good reporting. After all, the agriculture of Belarus could not compete in grain yields with Ukraine and Kazakhstan due to natural and climatic reasons, but it accounted for the high potato yield. In the 20th century, Belarusians learned not only to eat potatoes, but also mythologized this process. The potato has become an integral part of our folklore and even fiction. Only a Belarusian Soviet writer could come up with the idea to compose a patriotic work called Potatoes.
Today, little Belarus ranks ninth in the world in terms of potato production, and first in per capita terms. Of course, we don't eat all the potatoes. Some we sell to other countries, some we process, some goes to feed livestock and pigs. Belarusians' addiction to potatoes makes our neighbors smile, and we ourselves get irritated. Belarus buys thousands of tons of vegetables and fruits from abroad, but continues to plant potatoes. However, when I look at the wide potato fields of our homeland, I am calm. While potatoes are growing, we are not afraid of hunger and cataclysms. The main thing is that some new analogue of late blight does not happen, as it once happened in Ireland.
Outside Europe
“I love fried potatoes, I love mashed potatoes. I love potatoes in general. Do you think these words were said by an Irishman or a Belarusian? No, they belong to the black American singer Mary J. Blige. Today, potatoes are grown all over the world. Even in tropical Asia and Africa, where it has to compete with other tubers like sweet potato, yam and taro, it is considered quite common, tasty and affordable food. The Andeans gave the world potatoes, the Europeans spread them beyond the region, but the history of the potato outside of South America and Europe is no less informative and fascinating.
The Spaniards brought potatoes to Mexico just a couple of decades after they conquered the Inca state. Although a large part of this North American country resembles Peru with its high mountains and arid valleys, its fate there was completely different from that in Europe. Mexican Indians and Spanish settlers were not interested in this plant. They stayed true to corn and beans. The first description of potatoes grown in Mexico appeared only in 1803, and they began to grow them on an industrial scale only in the middle of the 20th century.
Perhaps the fault was the local nature, which resisted the introduction of a new agricultural crop. After all, Mexico is the birthplace of the two main enemies of the potato, the already mentioned phytophthora and the Colorado potato beetle. The latter came to the United States from Mexico in the 19th century, destroying a significant part of the crop in Colorado in 1859. At the beginning of the 20th century, beetle eggs, along with seed, were brought to France, from where he launched an offensive in European countries. In Belarus, the Colorado potato beetle appeared in 1949, having flown over the border with neighboring Poland.
Potatoes from the USA and Canada are of European origin, that is, they were imported by immigrants from Europe, and not directly from South America. Like ours, it was considered more of a fodder and industrial crop. Widespread eating began only in the last quarter of the 19th century under the influence of European immigrants who brought new eating habits from their native countries. An exception is the so-called Indian potato of the Pacific coast of North America. The Indians have been growing it since the end of the 18th century. In Alaska, the potato was an important commodity traded by the Tlingit Indians to the merchants of the Russo-American Company for textiles and metal goods. According to one version, the Indian potato comes from California, where it came in the 18th century thanks to the Spanish Jesuits. According to another, Peruvian fishermen accidentally brought it to Vancouver Island. The potato was the first agricultural crop mastered by the Indians of the western coast of Canada and Alaska.
In southern China and the Philippine Islands, potatoes became known around the same time as in Europe. It was brought there by Spanish traders from Peru. The Filipinos were never able to appreciate the nutritional qualities of imported tubers, but began to grow them for sale to sailors. In China, the potato remained an exotic plant until the 20th century. It was served to the table of noble nobles and emperors. However, the common people knew little about her. At the end of the 18th century, the British introduced potatoes to eastern India. From there, in the 19th century, he came to Tibet. In tropical Africa, the potato culture became known thanks to merchants from Europe, but became widespread only in the middle of the 20th century.
If you have something to add on the topic, feel free to comment.
Potato in the life of a modern person is a familiar root crop, dishes from which are present on the table of an ordinary person almost daily. Relatively recently, potatoes were considered a rarity, and food made from them was a delicacy. We are so used to it that we don’t even think about the country in which potatoes were first grown.
Origin story
For the first time, potatoes were discovered by Europeans (military expedition) at the beginning of the 15th century in the territory of modern Peru (South America). It was on this territory that about 15 thousand years ago the Indians began the process of domesticating wild tubers. The find was called truffles because they looked very much like mushrooms. A little later, another traveler - Pedro Ciesa de Leon - discovered fleshy tubers in the valley of the Cauca River (the territory of modern Ecuador). The Indians called them "Papa". Pedro wrote about this in his book and called potatoes a special kind of peanuts, which, after boiling, become soft and taste like baked chestnuts. Each harvest was accompanied by a religious holiday, the Indians honored and respected the potato, because it was the main food, and the cultivation of potatoes was the main occupation. The Indians saw something divine in everything, so potato tubers became an object of worship.
It should be noted that wild potatoes are still found in Peru today, but cultivated varieties are already very different from it. Despite the fact that it began to be cultivated 15 thousand years ago, it became a fully-fledged agricultural crop about 5 thousand years ago.
The emergence of potatoes in Europe
Europe got to know the potato in 1565. The first were the Spaniards. They didn't like it, probably because they tried to eat it raw. In the same year, the tubers were brought to Italy and were nicknamed "tartufolli", for the same resemblance to truffles. The Germans changed the name to "tartofel", well, and then its usual name appeared - potatoes. A few years later, the tubers get to Belgium, a little later to France. In Germany, the potato did not take root immediately, it became especially in demand in 1758-1763, when the country was seized by famine caused by the war. People ate it and had no idea in which country they first began to grow potatoes.
Appearance in Russia
In our country, the emergence of potatoes is associated with the reformer tsar Peter I. Europe was his weakness, he dragged everything European into the country - customs, clothes, food. He also brought potatoes. There is an opinion that Peter sent the first bag of potatoes from Holland to Russia and ordered Count Sheremetyev to distribute it. Allegedly, the history of potatoes in our country began with this bag. At first, the Russians did not accept the new vegetable and were not interested in which country first began to grow potatoes. But the king threatened the peasants with the death penalty - so everyone began to grow it.
The merits of the root crop would have been forgotten if not for the hungry war years. It gradually introduced itself into the diet of the Russian people; by the middle of the 18th century, the peasants already called it “the second bread” and grew it on a voluntary basis. Root crops quickly adapted to the climate. Later, even the poorest people had potatoes on the table. Most Russian scientists wondered in which country they first began to grow potatoes, but expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century proved that his homeland was South America. At the time of the discovery of the central and northern parts of America, nothing was known about potatoes there.
Potato Dishes
In Peru, where they first began to grow potatoes, they prepare a traditional dish from it - chuño. Simply put, these are canned potatoes. This country has a hot climate, so residents need to save the harvest for the future. Chuno is stored for several years and nothing happens to him. The recipe for its preparation is extremely simple: the potatoes are first laid out on straw and left overnight. The frozen tubers are then crushed to remove excess moisture and dried in the sun.
In Russia, a huge number of dishes are prepared from potatoes, the most familiar of which is mashed potatoes. Potatoes are also baked, fried, boiled, steamed and baked whole tubers on coals. In addition, it is used to prepare stuffing for baking, add to salads, prepare all kinds of side dishes. Sometimes, when asked in which country they began to grow potatoes, I want to answer: “In Russia!”, It has taken root and become familiar so much.
The first image of a potato in Europe (
The homeland of the potato is South America, where wild species of this plant can still be found. The introduction of potatoes into culture (first by exploiting wild thickets) began about 9-7 thousand years ago in the territory of modern Bolivia. The Indians not only ate the potato, but also worshiped it, considering it to be an animated being.
Potato appeared in Europe in the second half of the 16th century and was first taken as an ornamental plant, and poisonous at that. The French agronomist Antoine-Auguste Parmentier (1737-1813) finally proved that the potato has high taste and nutritional qualities. With his filing began the penetration of potatoes in the provinces of France, and then other countries. Even during the life of Parmentier, this made it possible to defeat the previously frequent famine in France and bring out scurvy. Several dishes are named after Parmentier, the main ingredient of which is potatoes.
Early written evidence
The first sporadic mention of potatoes ( yoma in the Chibcha Muisca language) are found in Spanish documents describing the conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada (the territories of Colombia and Venezuela): from Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1539, edited by an anonymous author in 1548-1549; 1550), Juan de Castellanos (1540), Pascual de Andagoya (1540) with Fernandez de Oviedo (1545). Jimenez de Quesada in his report " Summary of the Conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada”, Speaking of the inhabitants of the territory he conquered, he spoke about the most important plants used by them for food:
The food of these people is the same as in other parts of the Indies, because their main subsistence is
In addition, they have 2 or 3 varieties of plants from which they derive great benefit for their subsistence, of which there are some that look like truffles, called
jonas
Others are like turnips, called
cubeas, which they throw into their cooking, it serves as an important product for them.
Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada. "Summary of the Conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada".
In an anonymous manuscript Dictionary and grammar of the Chibcha language(around the beginning of the 17th century) various types of potatoes are given:
- "Truffle animals. - Niomi";
- "Truffle, root. - Iomza iemuy";
- "Yellow truffle. - Tybaiomy";
- "Wide truffle. - Gazaiomy";
- "Long truffle. - Quyiomy";
The conquistador Pascual de Andagoya in 1540 pointed out in his " Report on the activities of Pedrarias Dávila in the provinces of Tierra Firme or Golden Castile that “this valley and the region of Popayan is very beautiful and fertile. The provisions are maize and certain roots called papas, like chestnuts, and other roots like turnips, besides numerous fruits.
Thanks to the historian and conquistador Pedro Cieza de Leon, Europe learned in detail about such a culture as potatoes, from his work “Chronicle of Peru”, published in 1553 in the city of Seville, where he also reports that he met potatoes in Quito (Ecuador), Popayan and Pasto (Colombia). He, relying both on his own observations and on the information of his predecessor conquistadors, collected thanks to his position in the office of Viceroy Pedro de La Gasca, gave his first description, the correct method of preparation and storage:
“Of the local products, with the exception of maize, there are two more that are considered by the Indians to be the main food products. One they call Papas, like truffles, after cooking, they become as soft inside as boiled chestnuts; it has neither shell nor stone, only what truffles have, because it is formed underground, like them. The grass produces this fruit, exactly like a field poppy”, “... and they dry it in the sun, and store it from one harvest to another. After drying, they call these potatoes „ chuño“and it is highly valued by them and worth a lot, because they do not have irrigation canals, as in many other places in this kingdom, to water their fields, they do not even have enough natural water for crops, they experience want and deprivation if they do not have this dried potato.
Potatoes were first brought to Europe (Spain), probably by the same Ciesa de Leon in 1551, upon his return from Peru. The first evidence of the use of potatoes in food also comes from Spain: in 1573, they are among the products purchased for the Hospital of the Blood of Jesus in Seville. Later, the culture spread to Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and other European countries.
Peru
It is claimed that the Inca calendar had the following way of determining daytime: the time spent on boiling potatoes served as a measure - which was approximately equal to one hour. That is, in Peru they said: as much time has passed as it would take to cook a dish of potatoes.
A description of the traditional method of cooking potatoes by the Peruvians is contained in a letter from the French explorer Joseph Dombay, dated May 20, 1779. Potatoes, along with corn, were a unique product of the Peruvians, who took them with them on long trips. They cooked potatoes in water, peeled them and dried them in the sun. The received product papa seca mixed with other products. There was another method of preparation. The tubers were frozen and trampled (?) with their feet to remove the skin. The thus prepared mixture was placed in a stream of water under pressure. Fifteen to twenty days later, the resulting product was dried in the sun. The product thus obtained was called Spanish. chuño and "was a pure starch that they could use to make powder (for hair)." Spanish chuño It was used to make jams, flour for the sick and as an additive to other dishes.
Tunta, or chuño
Autre tunta
Freezing followed by dehydration is nothing more than lyophilization by natural means. This means that you need to add water to drink. Chunyo was part of the diet of the Indians working in the silver mines.
Chuno is produced in the Altiplano, namely in Suni and Puna (an area in the Cordillera), where there are specific environmental and climatic conditions. Chuño is eaten in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. According to Radcliffe Salaman, chuño was ground into flour and added to stews and various soups.
Another traditional way of preparing potatoes is to soak the tubers for 6 months in a stream of water. The product obtained as a result of fermentation, isp. chuño podrido used to make the Mazamorra dessert.
Bishopric of Liege
In all likelihood, the first cookbook containing recipes for potato dishes was written by Lancelot de Casteau (fr.) Russian, cook of three (successive) prince-bishops of Liege. A book published in 1604 under the title Ouverture de cuisine contains four recipes for preparing a dish that was still exotic for Europeans.
Facsimile spread of Ouverture de cuisine
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The absence of salt in gas stations is explained by the fact that at that time enough salt was contained in the oil.
De Casto did not comment on the origin, the price of the potato, its availability on the market. However, he used potatoes from at least December 12, 1558, as "boiled potatoes" appear on the menu (3rd change of serving) of a banquet given in honor of Archbishop Robert's joyeuse entrée.
Illustration from the herbarium of J. Gerard (1633)
Ireland
In Ireland, potatoes appeared at the end of the 16th century. It quickly gained popularity and by the end of the 18th century, it firmly took the place of the main product in the diet of Irish peasants.
In peasant houses, potatoes have always been part of the dinner in one form, the easiest to prepare, boiled in water. The tubers, together with the peel, were boiled in a cauldron. The contents of the cauldron were poured into a wicker basket (eng. skeehogue), allowing water to pass through, and family members, sitting around the basket and in front of the fireplace, ate directly from the basket with their hands.
Potato crop failure, provoked by the influence of the pathogenic microorganism Phytophthora infestans, which causes late blight, became one of the causes of the massive famine that struck Ireland in the middle of the 19th century. This, in turn, gave rise to the mass emigration of the Irish to the New World, and above all to the United States of America.
France
Since its appearance in Europe, potatoes have gained popularity in the bishopric of Liege, in Ireland, in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In France, due to similarities with known poisonous members of the nightshade family, as well as the lack of storage and use technologies, the introduction was hampered. In addition, there were problems of a purely agronomic (unsuitable environmental conditions) and religious nature (non-recognition of tithe).
Olivier de Serres, in his 1600 book Théâtre d'agriculture et Mesnage des champs, recommended the cultivation of the potato and compared its taste ('white truffle') to the finest black truffles.
By 1750, many people and organizations began to recommend the cultivation and consumption of potatoes: Duhamel du Monceau, the bishops of Albi and Leon, the minister of Turgot, Rosa Bertin, the agricultural society of Rennes. Even ten years before the publications of Antoine Parmentier and Samuel Angele, Duhamel du Monceau urged the peasants not to ignore the potato and noted that "... it is an excellent product, especially with bacon or corned beef."
But the broad masses were skeptical about potatoes. It was regarded with disdain by most French people, although it was cultivated and consumed in some areas. Potatoes provided an alternative to wheat, a staple food that, for centuries, led to starvation and panic at the dawn of the French Revolution.
Parmentier was especially active in promoting the cultivation of potatoes as a vegetable crop. His treatise Examen chymique des pommes de terres(1774) proved the high nutritional value of potatoes. The government and the royal family itself took up the introduction of a new culture. It is said that Queen Marie Antoinette loved to curl potato flowers into her hair.
Russia
The Free Economic Society associated the appearance of potatoes in Russia with the name of Peter I, who at the end of the 17th century sent a bag of tubers from Holland to the capital, allegedly for distribution to the provinces for cultivation. The outlandish vegetable did not become widespread in Russia in the first half of the 18th century, although the “Historical note on the introduction of potato culture in Russia” reads:
Foreign innovation was adopted by individuals, mainly foreigners and some representatives of the upper classes ... Back in the reign of the Empress
Anna Ivanovna
at the prince's table
Potatoes were already emerging as a tasty, but by no means rare, dainty dish.
At first, potatoes were considered an exotic plant and were served only in aristocratic homes. In 1758, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences published an article "On the cultivation of earthen apples" - the first scientific article in Russia on the cultivation of potatoes. A little later, articles about potatoes were published by Ya. E. Sievers (1767) and A. T. Bolotov (1770).
State measures for the distribution of potatoes were taken under Catherine II: in 1765, the Senate's Instruction "on the cultivation of earthen apples" was issued. The manual contained detailed recommendations on the cultivation and use of the new crop and, together with potato seeds, was sent to all provinces. This happened in line with the all-European trend: “Potatoes began to be cultivated on an extensive scale from 1684 in Lancashire, from 1717 in Saxony, from 1728 in Scotland, from 1738 in Prussia, from 1783 in France.” Compared to rye and wheat, the potato was considered an unpretentious crop, so it was considered as a good help in crop failures and in non-grain areas.
In the “Economic Description of the Perm Province” of 1813, it is noted that peasants grow and sell “excellently large white potatoes” in Perm, but they are skeptical about the increase in crops: “They are always ready to answer that they do not have enough time to sow the necessary bread, much more potatoes, which must be planted by hand. Peasants eat potatoes “baked, boiled, in porridges, and they also make their pies and shangi (a kind of cake) with the help of flour; and in the cities they flavor soups with it, cook it with roast and make flour from it for making kissels.
Due to the many poisonings caused by eating fruits and young tubers containing solanine, the peasant population did not initially accept the new culture. Only gradually did he gain recognition, displacing turnips from the peasant diet. Nevertheless, back in the 19th century, many peasants called the potato "damn apple" and considered it a sin to eat it.
State measures were taken in the future. So, in Krasnoyarsk, potatoes have been grown since 1835. Each family was required to grow potatoes. For failure to comply with this order, the perpetrators were supposed to be exiled to Belarus, to build the Bobruisk fortress. Every year, the governor sent all the information about growing potatoes to St. Petersburg.
In 1840-42. on the initiative of Count Pavel Kiselyov, the areas allocated for potatoes began to increase rapidly. According to the order of February 24, 1841 "On Measures for the Spread of Potato Cultivation", the governors had to report regularly to the government on the rate of increase in the crops of the new crop. With a circulation of 30,000 copies, free instructions on the proper planting and growing of potatoes were sent throughout Russia.
As a result, a wave of "potato riots" swept across Russia. The people's fear of innovation was also shared by some enlightened Slavophiles. For example, Princess Avdotya Golitsyna "with perseverance and passion defended her protest, which was quite amused in society." She declared that the potato "is an encroachment on the Russian nationality, that the potato will spoil both the stomachs and the pious morals of our ancestral and God-protected bread and porridge eaters."
Nevertheless, the "potato revolution" of the times of Nicholas I was crowned with success. By the end of the 19th century, more than 1.5 million hectares were occupied by potatoes in Russia. By the beginning of the 20th century, this vegetable was already considered in Russia as a “second bread”, that is, one of the main food products.
Notes
- Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation
- A more accurate name in the Chibcha language is "yoma" or "yomui"
- Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada. Summary of the Conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada" (1539; 1548-1549). www.bloknot.info (A. Skromnitsky) (April 20, 2010). Retrieved April 20, 2010. Archived from the original on August 21, 2011.
- Gonzalez de Perez, Maria Stella. Diccionario y gramatica chibcha. Imprenta patriótica del Instituto Caro y Cuervo. Bogota. 1987, p. 331
- Pascual de Andagoya. Narrative of the proceedings of Pedrarias Dávila in the provinces of Tierra Firme or Catilla del Oro: and of the discovery of the South Sea and the coasts of Peru and Nicaragua. - London: Hakluyt Society, 1865. - p. 58.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter XL. - Kyiv, 2008 (translated by A. Skromnitsky). Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
- In Diego González Holguín's Dictionary (1608): Chhunyu. Potatoes stale / dried, frozen in the sun.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter XXIX. - Kyiv, 2008 (translated by A. Skromnitsky). Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
- Montanari Massimo. Hunger and abundance. M., 2009. p. 129
- Bernabe Kobo "History of the New World" (Volume 3, Book 12, Chapter XXXVII). Archived from the original on July 11, 2012.
- "Proceedings of the Free Economic Society", 1852
- Berdyshev A.P. Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov: The first Russian scientist agronomist. - Gosselkhozizdat. - M., 1949. - 184 p. - 25,000 copies.
- No. 12406. - May 31. Instruction - on the cultivation of earthen apples, called pottes (potatoes) // Full. coll. laws of Ros. Empire. Sobr. 1st. SPb., 1830. T. 17. S. 141-148.
- Potato // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
- Economic description of the Perm province: in 3 hours. Part 2. St. Petersburg, 1813. P. 162.
- From the history of potatoes in the world and in Russia (Russian). Retrieved March 20, 2011. Archived from the original on July 2, 2012.
- Guide to botany / comp. V.V. Grigoriev. 4th ed. - M.: edition of the Salaev brothers, 1865. - S. 232.
- s:Old notebook 181-190 (Vyazemsky)
Story
In what place of our planet was the first potato grown? Potato native to South America, where even now you can meet his wild ancestor. Scientists believe that the ancient Indians began to cultivate this plant about 14 thousand years ago. It came to Europe in the middle of the 16th century, brought by the Spanish conquistadors. At first, its flowers were grown for decorative purposes, and the tubers were fed to livestock. Only in the 18th century they began to be used for food.
The appearance of potatoes in Russia is associated with the name of Peter I, at that time it was an exquisite court delicacy, and not a mass product.
Potatoes became widespread later, in the second half of the 19th century.. This was preceded by "potato riots", caused by the fact that the peasants, forced to plant potatoes by order of the king, did not know how to eat them and ate poisonous fruits, not healthy tubers.
Flag photo
And this is what the flag of the country in which potatoes began to be cultivated looks like.
Growing conditions and places
Now potatoes can be found on all continents where there is soil.. The most suitable for growth and high yields are the temperate, tropical and subtropical climate zones. This culture prefers cool weather, the optimum temperature for the formation and development of tubers is 18-20°C. Therefore, in the tropics, potatoes are planted in the winter months, and in mid-latitudes - in early spring.
In some subtropical regions, the climate allows potatoes to be grown all year round, with a dew cycle of only 90 days. In the cool conditions of Northern Europe, harvest is usually done 150 days after planting.
Europe was the world leader in potato production in the 20th century.. Since the second half of the last century, potato growing began to spread in the countries of Southeast Asia, India, and China. In the 1960s, India and China jointly produced no more than 16 million tons of potatoes, and in the early 1990s, China came out on top, which continues to occupy to this day. In total, more than 80% of the world's harvest is harvested in Europe and Asia, with a third of it coming from China and India.
Productivity in different states
An important factor for agriculture is crop yield. In Russia, this figure is one of the lowest in the world, with a planted area of about 2 million hectares, the total harvest is only 31.5 million tons. In India, 46.4 million tons are harvested from the same area.
The reason for such low yields is the fact that more than 80% of potatoes in Russia are grown by the so-called unorganized smallholders. The low level of technical equipment, the rare implementation of protective measures, the lack of high-quality planting material - all this affects the results.
European countries, the USA, Australia, Japan are traditionally distinguished by high yields.. This is primarily due to the high level of technical support and quality of planting material. The world record for yield belongs to New Zealand, where it is possible to collect an average of 50 tons per hectare.
Leaders in cultivation and production
Here is a table with the designation of countries that grow root crops in large quantities.
Export
In international trade, the world leader is Holland, which accounts for 18% of all exports. About 70% of Holland's exports are raw potatoes and products made from it..
In addition, this country is the largest supplier of certified seed potatoes. Of the three largest producers, only China, which ranks 5th (6.1%), made it into the top 10 exporters. Russia and India practically do not export their products.
Usage
According to international organizations, about 2/3 of all potatoes produced in one form or another are consumed by people, the rest is used to feed livestock, for various technical needs and for seeds. In global consumption, there is currently a shift away from eating fresh potatoes towards processed potato products such as french fries, chips, mashed potato flakes.
In developed countries, potato consumption is gradually decreasing, while in developing countries it is steadily increasing.. Inexpensive and unpretentious, this vegetable allows you to get good yields from small areas and provide healthy nutrition to the population. Therefore, potatoes are increasingly planted in areas with limited land resources and surplus, expanding the geography of this agricultural crop from year to year and increasing its role in the global agricultural system.
In chapter Food, Cooking to the question in which country were potatoes first consumed? given by the author Irina Petrotsi the best answer is Now it is difficult to imagine a world without potatoes; at the moment, root crops are grown in 130 countries of the world.
The history of the emergence of potatoes did not develop so smoothly. Until now, there is no consensus among scientists on this matter. Some believe that the potato was brought from Peru, others argue that it comes from Chile, where its growing conditions are close to those of many Western European countries with a moderately warm climate. However, there is no doubt that the homeland of the potato is South America, where it has been known since time immemorial. Primitive tribes, driven by hunger, searched here in the ground for edible plant roots, among which they found wild potato tubers.
There is no doubt that the Spaniards were the first to discover potatoes for Europe, who discovered in South America "mealy roots of good taste." They were looking for gold - they found potatoes, thereby making a great botanical discovery. Even all the gold of America looks more than modest compared to the benefits that this universal plant has given humanity. However, with regard to the history of the distribution of potatoes in European countries, there is still a lot of unknown here.
In India, potatoes are recognized as the king among vegetables due to their productivity, endurance, nutritional value. Potato growing in Russia has 2 stages: the introduction of potatoes into culture and the beginning of its mass cultivation (until the 1840s) and the transition of potatoes from garden crops to field crops, the formation of potato growing as an agricultural sector (1850s - early 20th century). There is no exact information about the appearance of potatoes in Russia, but it is associated with the Petrine era. At the end of the 17th century, Peter I, while in the Netherlands on ship business, became interested in this plant and "for brood" sent a bag of tubers from Rotterdam to Count Sheremetyev. In order to speed up the spread of the potato, the Senate considered the introduction of the potato 23 times in 1755-66 alone.
Now potatoes are grown with success, and are very widely used in various fields.
The history of the emergence of potatoes did not develop so smoothly. Until now, there is no consensus among scientists on this matter. Some believe that the potato was brought from Peru, others argue that it has its ancestry from Chile, where its growing conditions are close to those of many Western European countries with a moderately warm climate. However, there is no doubt that the homeland of the potato is South America, where it has been known since time immemorial. Primitive tribes, driven by hunger, searched here in the ground for edible plant roots, among which they found wild potato tubers.
2 answers
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: in which country were potatoes first consumed?
Answer from Yovetlana Podberezkina
in America
Answer from *Queen*
in America, still May already.
Answer from EP
The Indians of South America began to eat potatoes about 12-14 thousand years ago. In those days, potato tubers were small, bitter and unsuitable for eating. Long processing, sometimes taking months, was required in order to get something edible.
Numerous researchers believe that the first person to bring potatoes to Europe was the monk Neronymus Kordan. Well, maybe it was he who, in 1580, lowered the first basket with an unknown vegetable on the land of Spain, which was to conquer more peoples than any commander. But perhaps time will give us a new version ...
The name of the European who first described the potato is known for sure. This is the Spaniard Pedro Cheza de Leon. He studied Peru quite thoroughly for his time and published a book in Seville, which he called the Chronicle of Peru. It was from her that Europeans first learned about potatoes. Papa (the so-called potatoes in Peru.) - wrote Cheza de Leon, - this is a special kind of peanuts. When cooked, they become soft, like a roasted chestnut....They are covered with a skin no thicker than a truffle skin. The author also spoke about the solemn holiday that the Indians arranged on the occasion of the potato harvest.
Answer from Ўliya
Are you really that interested???? :)
Answer from Pavel Yuriev
In Colombia.
Answer from Vladimir Gubachev
I think the Indians, and the Spaniards brought to Europe
Answer from Dmitry Orzhehovsky
South America.. . and I think long before a person learned to write and read ...
Answer from Natalya Ivakhnik
isn't it in Peru?
Answer from Inna Vladimirovna
In India, that is, the Indians of South America
2 answers
Hello! Here are some other threads with relevant answers:
