Potato

Focusing On Food

Potato - The Humble Spud

Prepared by The Food Club’s Technical Department

Historical Prospective

Potatoes originated from the Andes Mountains of Peru where ancestors of the Incas grew them more than 6,000 years ago. It was here that the Incas first discovered an early form of freeze drying when, at night, they let their potatoes freeze and during the day the water evaporated off. In the early 1500’s the Spanish explorers discovered potatoes in Ecuador and from there they brought the potatoes to Spain, Italy and France.
The initial acceptance of the potato in Europe was slow because it was hampered by religious leaders who denounced the potato because it wasn’t mentioned in the bible. It was not until the 18th century that potatoes became fashionable when Marie Antoinette paraded through the French countryside wearing potato blossoms in her hair. By the mid 19th Century Ireland were so dependant on the potato harvest that three crop failures in 1840’s caused severe famine leading to a mass emigration. During both world wars, when food was in short supply, we relied on the potato to provide a balanced meal and many extra tonnes of potatoes were produced as part of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign.

In Britain we grow around 6.8million tonnes of potatoes each year and we are the second largest consumers of potatoes in Europe, after Ireland.
Versatility

Potatoes are a very versatile root crop, which can be boiled, baked, mashed, chipped, fried, sautéed, roasted and steamed. Potatoes are also processed into a variety of products including crisps, frozen/microwave chips, instant mash, potato waffles, croquettes, hash browns and canned new potatoes. In recent years the processing market has grown to account for just over 40% of the British crop.

Cooked potatoes have different textures, depending on whether they are the `waxy’ or `floury’ varieties. This difference is due to the changes which happen to the potato cells during cooking. `Waxy’ potatoes are translucent and usually have a moist and pasty feel while `floury’ potatoes are brighter and granular in appearance giving them a drier feel.

Varieties

There are around 80 varieties of potato in the UK. They can have round, oval, or elongated shapes, white, pink or red colours and varying numbers and depths of eyes. All these determine the end uses of the potato. Some potatoes are more suited to particular processing and cooking methods than others. This is due to the structure and behaviour of cells during processing.

Potatoes are grown from seed potatoes which must be free from viruses and other diseases and Scotland accounts for 90% of all seed potatoes grown in Great Britain. Breeding new varieties is a long process. It can take up to eleven years from the time of the first cross to the final production of commercial quantities.

The potato crop has three seasons, first earlies, second earlies and maincrop. Earlies are planted from January to March and are harvested as early as mid April in the warmest part of the country. British first earlies are more commonly known as ‘new potatoes’ and they account for around 8% of the potatoes grown in the UK. Main crop potatoes form around 70% of the crop area, they are planted in April and harvesting continues through September and October. 30% of maincrop potatoes consist of Cara, King Edwards, Record, Pentland Dell and Maris Piper (which is the one predominantly used by fish and chip shop chips).

This article is based on information provided by the British Potato Council and the British Nutrition Foundation.
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Last updated 12 November 2008