Potatoes are among the most widely produced crops in the world after wheat, rice and corn and the fourth volume of raw produce.
Homeland of the potato is South America, the territory of present-day Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Potatoes are an important part of the industry of the Andes, farmers grow many varieties with a variety of colors and shapes. In the rest of the world, they are distributed after the travelling of Europeans to America between the 15th and 16th century. Over 200 wild species are found in South America.
The word for potato in Quechua (Indian people inhabiting South America, the successor to the cultural traditions of the country of the Incas) is the "Pope." The first country in which the potato was brought is to Spain in the 16th century, and from there to other parts of Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The etymology of the word, and the Russian "kartofely" and the German Kartoffel, comes from the Italian name tartufoli, a potato, because they were likened to truffles.
English "potato" comes from the Spanish word "batata" - "sweet potato". Sweet potatoes are different from ordinary and cultivated much earlier than Christopher Columbus, they were brought from the Caribbean.
Another frequently-used name of the potato is "earth apple" ("pomme de terre" in French, "תפוח אדמה" ("tapuach Adam") in Hebrew and Erdapfel in German.
Potatoes are rich source of vitamin C and potassium if eaten with their skin. In their homeland to date are more than 2 000 varieties of potatoes, but depending on the processing, you can divide them into the following types:
Cooking potatoes - with a moist and smooth inside, which retain their shape during cooking.
Baking potatoes - drier and more bready, unstable during thermal processing.
Fresh potatoes - they have a higher content of water. Most commonly used for cooking and for salad.
Red potatoes - with a lower content of starch, making them suitable for cooking, baking, preparing soups, salads and gratin.
If the potatoes are fresh, remove the skin with a rough cloth or brush, and if they are older, peel them. Cut if green parts and tubers.
If you want to bake the potatoes whole, pierce them with a fork in several places and bake at a temperature of 200 degrees for an hour or hour and a half. To cook them you need to cover them with cold water and to salt them, and you leave them to boil on low heat for 10-20 minutes.
To make sauteed potatoes, they need to be blanched and sliced about 5-10 minutes before use. Should then be placed in a buttered pan and fried until golden. If you want to make potato chips, chop them, pour in cold water for at least 30 minutes, drain them, dry them and prepare them in small portions in hot oil at about 190 degrees.
An interesting fact is that in recent years the variety selection of potatoes in the world has created several types of red and yellow potatoes with particularly expressive color. Scientists have even gone further - they have created amazing varieties of blue and green potatoes. Although the color fades after heat treatment, by combining several colors of potatoes, you would get an interesting salad. Unfortunately colored potatoes are marketed in the United States and have not been known for making sauteed potatoes.
