In praise of the (not so) humble potato

WHEN I was young I learned the expression: “bread is the staff of life”. I wonder whether bread still holds the top rung in the human food ladder. Bread has the advantage that it is eaten ceremonially in many religious rites, so it is accorded almost sacred status. The bakers have an advantage there.

I have not heard of any religious ceremony that requires the blessing of a potato.

I suspect, though, that if we were to choose the most widespread of all human foods today, we would probably come up with the answer: “Potato is the king”.

Do you know which country produces the most of the world’s potatoes?

You may be surprised to find it’s China. Together, India and China now produce 37% of the entire world’s potato crop and the percentage is growing steadily.

And yet, the old spud is a relative newcomer to the world’s menu. Potatoes were introduced into Europe only in the latter half of the 16th century. I have often wondered what people ate before that? Turnips? Bread? Corn?

I suppose most people were unashamed carnivores in medieval times because they hadn’t tasted potatoes yet and Banting hadn’t been invented.

Just imagine what size Henry VIII would have been if he had been offered a plate of slap tjips with his breakfast of lampreys and ale!

Today it’s almost unimaginable to consider a meal without potatoes. Almost everything comes with a side order of potato chips, unless it has creamy mashed potato or crispy roast potatoes.

I have no doubt at all that packets of salty potato crisps are the most popular snack food in the world.

In South Africa it would be nice to have a packet of springbok biltong with your cold beer, but it’s far too expensive for everyday snacking, so we settle quite happily for a bag of chips.

It’s amazing how the potato has adapted itself to fit in with almost every culture in the world.

In Eastern European countries it often comes in the form of potato rosti or latkes – crispy fried potato fritters. Roast potatoes are essential for a traditional English Sunday dinner.

Wrapped in foil they are a part of every South African braai. Every stew – or potjie – is enriched by the addition of a couple of potatoes (could you imagine a stew without potatoes?) The Irish… well. Potato salad is a great summer dish. What I find rather strange is that there are more than 1 000 different varieties of potato. When I visited Canada I was amazed by the range of colours and shapes in supermarkets – yellow, red, purple, orange.

Here in South Africa we seem to have only two kinds of potato in our shops – large or small.

Last laugh

A patient arrived at the out-patients’ section of the hospital, battered and bruised, with a torn ear and blood dripping from his nose.

The registering nurse started filling in his admission form. “Name?” “Jones.” “You married?” “No, I was hit by a car.”