Everyone living in Ireland knows that Irish are VERY fond of their potatoes. They would eat them in any form or shape, any opportunity they get! And I'm highly supportive of that myself :)
Today is National Potato Day so I thought of gathering my favourite potato recipes and telling you a little bit about Irish love affair with this humble spud and about the spud itself.
The origins of the potato can be traced to the highlands of the Peruvian Andes-mountains in South America on the border between Bolivia and Peru, 8,000 years ago. There, research indicates, communities of hunters and gatherers who had first entered the South American continent at least 7,000 years before began domesticating wild potato plants that grew around the lake in abundance. Some 200 species of wild potatoes are found in the Americas.
It is thought that the potato reached Europe in the hands of returning Spanish explorers around 1570. How the potato came to be introduced into Ireland is not precisely known, though popular myth credits its introduction at Youghal, Co. Cork by Sir Walter Raleigh. Other anecdotal evidence suggest that the potato was washed up on the shores of Cork after the wreck of the Spanish Armada in the area.
The “Great Famine” in Ireland from 1845-1849 was caused because the potato crop became diseased. At the height of the famine at least one million people died of starvation. This famine left many poverty stricken families with no choice but to struggle for survival or emigrate out of Ireland. Towns became deserted, and shops closed because store owners were forced to emigrate due to the amount of unemployment. Over one and a half million people left Ireland for North America and Australia. Over just a few years, the population of Ireland dropped by one half, from about 9 million to little more than 4 million.
There are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. Potatoes have become an integral part of much of the world’s cuisine. It is the world’s fourth-largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize.
In Europe per capita production is still the highest in the world, but the most rapid expansion over the past few decades has occurred in southern and eastern Asia. Potato consumption is expanding strongly in developing countries, which now account for more than half of the global harvest and where the potato’s ease of cultivation and high energy content have made it a valuable cash crop for millions of farmers. China is now the world’s largest potato-producing country, and nearly a third of the world’s potatoes are harvested in China and India.
VARIETIES (most popular ones)
Rooster - Rooster is the most widely grown potato in Ireland and is available all year round. The variety has red skin with yellow flesh. The good skin finish and uniform shape with shallow eyes makes it easy to peel. The texture allows it to have a wide range of uses such as boiling,steaming,baking,roasting and chipping.Rooster is also easier to cook than other floury varieties.
