POTATO’S
Did you know that there are more than 4,000 varieties of potatoes WORLD wide? Just 200 varieties are sold in the U.S. 30 varieties grown straight outta Idaho. How lucky am I to have swiped right up to you, the rarest of them all. The goofiest, most thoughtful, tall, dark and handsome, wave chasing potato. As if you were sprouted and watered, just for me.
Get this, Inca Indians were the first to cultivate potatoes 8,000-5,000 BCE. Grown as foods and medicine! This gives them some pretty ancient cropping history. Deeply rooting the medicinal words you share on my toughest days. The wisemen of this era would also use the time it took to cook a potato as a measurement of time. I consider testing if I’d be earlier or later to functions if I applied this method.
It wasn’t until the conquistadors discovered this crop and brought the flavors from Peru to Europe where it wasn’t widely accepted by the white man for four decades, slowly durkadurka’d through the rest of Europe. It became more appreciated through War then more quickly made its way through trades.
Now here we are today. The third most important GLOBAL crop. Consumed by 1 billion people - 300 Million TONS per year.. The people love you.
Surely you were old enough to remember that in 1995 Potato’s were the first vegetable to be grown in space. Scientists split and compared the same clippings here on earth and in their spaceship with no real differences in their growth. Five successful little “space” potato cousins later and you became out of this world too!
For some of these reasons and many more is where I find deep love for you. One really important one that I have to share excites me being a little hapa girl from the islands is that we are not related. Not by far <3
See I am a Sweet potato. Where you are considered a Tuber I am a Rootsy gal. Packed with Nutrients and antioxidants that help to keep your eyes and heart healthy. Just a few bites through your week can help to keep your aches and pains at bay. Modestly ranked number one in nutrition of all vegetables by CSPI.
This requested “paragraph” may have arrived on sweet potato cook time and a bit of an article late, it needed to be perfectly put to you that 🖕🏽