I am descended from Irish peasants on one side of the family, so potatoes are the food of my people. My dad was a passionate potato partisan; he ate potatoes at least once (preferably twice) every day.
I have a sensitive stomach, but I have found that potatoes are an ideal snack for me on long mountain bike or gravel bike rides. I take baked potatoes, cut them into pieces, and salt them and put them in a little ziploc bag. Or, I air-fry hash brown potato patties, salt them and wrap them in foil. I've completed epic days on the bike fueled mainly by potatoes.
I love "taters" as we say in the South. I had one last night with black beans, some bacon bits and pumpkin seeds. I buy a 10# bag at Aldi's ($3.49 last week!) and we give away half to my sister in law or daughter because my wife and I cant keep that amount before it starts sprouting and looking like a science experiment!
I looked up the history and found: domesticated in around Peru ~8000 years ago; taken to Europe by Spanish Conquistadors; brought to North America by settlers late 1600s early 1700s; spread throughout Europe as alternative to grain crops and to feed "poor people"; spread throughout world (China leading producer at 22%!); wasn't popular in US until Thomas Jefferson served at White House!
It's interesting that "poor people" foods are actually better for you than all the processed junk touted by savants today. The cycle of "one word nutrition" fads, i.e.,
fats good or bad, carbs good or bad, protein, Paleo, Adkins, etc., always come back to eating real, natural foods as you, Michael, have discovered on your travels.
Come New Year's Day, I'll boil up my pot of black eyed peas with a ham hock and start eating good for the year!
On a whim while driving by, we visited the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, ID and I heartily recommend it. It was fascinating, and they traced how, at least in their telling, the potato basically saved mankind as a species. My second favorite aid station snack at an ultramarathon was simple cubes of boiled potatoes, next to a paper plate of coarse salt, so you could dip a potato chunk in the salt and pop it into your mouth (first favorite was chunks of chilled watermelon with warm bacon wrapped around them).
Make baked salt and vinegar smashed potatoes! They are amazing! My husband is the real potato hound in our family. I make them for him a lot. When we make mashed potatoes, we leave the skins on too!
It took me 52 years to realize I'm sensitive to nightshades andpotatoes are included in them.
Growing up I noticed potatoes gave me a stuffed nose. I was told no one is allergic to potatoes. As I got older I continued to have crazy sinus problems, ended up having a brutal sinus surgery that did help, but it wasn't a fix. About 3 years ago I read the Plant Paradox and that got me thinking about my sinuses again. I had all sorts of allergy testing and they came back with no allergies. So I did an elimination diet and realized it was everything in the nightshade family that was doing me in. I avoid, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes now. I can breathe through my nose 90% of the time now versus almost never. I'll have a potato from time to time now, and I can feel the effects from it but they pass in an hour or two.
I am descended from Irish peasants on one side of the family, so potatoes are the food of my people. My dad was a passionate potato partisan; he ate potatoes at least once (preferably twice) every day.
I have a sensitive stomach, but I have found that potatoes are an ideal snack for me on long mountain bike or gravel bike rides. I take baked potatoes, cut them into pieces, and salt them and put them in a little ziploc bag. Or, I air-fry hash brown potato patties, salt them and wrap them in foil. I've completed epic days on the bike fueled mainly by potatoes.
I love "taters" as we say in the South. I had one last night with black beans, some bacon bits and pumpkin seeds. I buy a 10# bag at Aldi's ($3.49 last week!) and we give away half to my sister in law or daughter because my wife and I cant keep that amount before it starts sprouting and looking like a science experiment!
I looked up the history and found: domesticated in around Peru ~8000 years ago; taken to Europe by Spanish Conquistadors; brought to North America by settlers late 1600s early 1700s; spread throughout Europe as alternative to grain crops and to feed "poor people"; spread throughout world (China leading producer at 22%!); wasn't popular in US until Thomas Jefferson served at White House!
It's interesting that "poor people" foods are actually better for you than all the processed junk touted by savants today. The cycle of "one word nutrition" fads, i.e.,
fats good or bad, carbs good or bad, protein, Paleo, Adkins, etc., always come back to eating real, natural foods as you, Michael, have discovered on your travels.
Come New Year's Day, I'll boil up my pot of black eyed peas with a ham hock and start eating good for the year!
Love it!
Boil ‘em, mash ’em, stick ‘em in a stew
Came here to say just that... Bonus: I just watched that part of The Two Towers with my ten-year-old after reading it. ☺️
Potatoes are my love language. I grow my own and even wrote a short mini book about them. Agree 100% with this article!
Is there any research around whether sweet potatoes are as good (or better?) than russet potatoes?
I thought the same thing- they would cover the vitamin A!
On a whim while driving by, we visited the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, ID and I heartily recommend it. It was fascinating, and they traced how, at least in their telling, the potato basically saved mankind as a species. My second favorite aid station snack at an ultramarathon was simple cubes of boiled potatoes, next to a paper plate of coarse salt, so you could dip a potato chunk in the salt and pop it into your mouth (first favorite was chunks of chilled watermelon with warm bacon wrapped around them).
I can't find it now but I remember someone pullin a sled north to the arctic from Manitoba I think and fueling the trip with potatoes.
The good old days of the 1900's when you could just make people eat one thing to do a food study.
Make baked salt and vinegar smashed potatoes! They are amazing! My husband is the real potato hound in our family. I make them for him a lot. When we make mashed potatoes, we leave the skins on too!
Keith Richard’s describes himself as a “meat and potatoes” guy.
It took me 52 years to realize I'm sensitive to nightshades andpotatoes are included in them.
Growing up I noticed potatoes gave me a stuffed nose. I was told no one is allergic to potatoes. As I got older I continued to have crazy sinus problems, ended up having a brutal sinus surgery that did help, but it wasn't a fix. About 3 years ago I read the Plant Paradox and that got me thinking about my sinuses again. I had all sorts of allergy testing and they came back with no allergies. So I did an elimination diet and realized it was everything in the nightshade family that was doing me in. I avoid, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes now. I can breathe through my nose 90% of the time now versus almost never. I'll have a potato from time to time now, and I can feel the effects from it but they pass in an hour or two.