Where did potatoes come from? European pages in the history of potatoes The appearance of potatoes in Europe
Read about the potato gods and their PR people, how the overseas vegetable was received in Europe, and how armed guards contributed to the spread of this plant in the “History of Science” section.
The familiar potato originates from the South American Andes, where it was cultivated about 8,000 years ago. During this time, local farmers developed almost 200 varieties of plants, many of which have bright color or unusual shape tuber, and also developed protection against diseases, insects and frost.
For the Andean peoples, potatoes, which they could grow in harsh mountain conditions and store for a long time in case of crop failure (by drying or freezing), were very important. It is not surprising that he also had his own deity in the Inca pantheon - Axomama, one of the daughters of the earth goddess, Pachamama.
Ceremonial pot depicting the goddess Axomama
Das Kartoffelmuseum
Descriptions of potatoes and other plants that the Indians used are found among some Spaniards - those of them who were engaged not only in military campaigns, but also in studying the life of local residents. Such records were left by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, the ruler of New Grenada (Colombia), as well as a possible prototype of Don Quixote, the priest and poet Juan de Castellanos, who studied the peoples South America and described potatoes in his poem about the conquest of Colombia and Venezuela.
The most famous descriptions of the plant were made by Pedro Cieza de Leon, an explorer of South America who described the history of its conquest. He himself took part in campaigns, crossing the territories of several countries with the conquistadors. In addition to potatoes, he talked about avocados and pineapples, alpacas, anacondas, sloths and possums. He saw Nazca geoglyphs, suspension bridges and signs on the Inca Roads. The first part of his monumental work, Chronicle of Peru, was published in Seville in 1553, the rest - already in the 19th century. De Leon is considered the first to bring potatoes to Europe.
However, simply delivering the tubers to the continent was not enough. If the plant had still come to terms with a colder climate (it was grown in the mountains, and the early onset of autumn was not a big problem), then a longer summer day noticeably reduced potato yields. How we managed to solve this problem, consensus No. Perhaps the variety tolerant of long days appeared in the process of propagating potatoes using seeds. On the other hand, some ship could simply bring potatoes of a different variety - from the south of Chile.
The appearance of potatoes in England and Ireland, in the history of which they played a complex role, is associated with the name of the British mathematician, astronomer and translator Thomas Herriot. He traveled around North America, learned the language of one of the local tribes, just a few months later Galileo sketched the Moon as he saw it through a telescope, corresponded with Johannes Kepler and proposed mathematical symbols< и >to denote the concepts “less” and “more”. The potatoes he brought took root well in Ireland, where they gave good harvests and became a support for the poor population of the country. But the fact that a third of the Irish relied on potatoes as one of their main sources of nutrition turned out to be back side(herriot could hardly have foreseen): one plant disease - late blight caused by microorganisms - provoked the "Great Famine", which, according to various estimates, claimed from 20% to 25% of the country's population. Another 1.5 million people left the country forever.
Potato tuber affected by late blight
Wikimedia Commons
However, in general, potatoes were not immediately accepted in Europe, and a lot of time passed before its inhabitants appreciated the unpretentiousness and nutritional properties of the plant. The peasants, the Church, and some Slavophiles in Russia spoke out against the unfamiliar vegetable. Lack of information also interfered: potatoes were mistaken for ornamental plant, tried to eat its poisonous fruits (dark green berries similar to small tomatoes).
But soon farmers appreciated the various advantages of potatoes. For example, it was less likely to be taken by passing enemy armies than grain crops, and it remained a reliable source of food in cold years when conventional crops produced smaller yields. Landowners liked the fact that, although it was not as easy to store as grain, it did not require flour mills. In 1600, French agronomist Olivier de Serres compared the taste of potatoes to truffles. However, the very origin of the word “potato” comes from the German Tartuffel and Italian tartufo- “truffle”.
The UN declared 2009 " International Year potatoes." Therefore, this year I decided to devote my work to this particular plant and experiment with growing potatoes in room conditions.
The first time I saw potatoes was when I was 2 years old, in my grandmother’s garden. And even then I had questions: why did she different color, why there are both large and small tubers on one bush, where did the potatoes come from, why can’t you eat the green “balls” that appeared after flowering, because they are so beautiful! Now I have learned a lot about potatoes and can answer all my childhood questions.
The history of the appearance of potatoes in Europe in Russia.
Potatoes were first discovered by the Indians of South America in the form of wild thickets. How to grow potatoes cultivated plant the Indians began about 14 thousand years ago. Potatoes replaced bread and they called him daddy. Potatoes were first brought to Europe (Spain) by Francis Drake in 1565, after traveling to South America. Once from America to Europe, potatoes became a great traveler. It reached Italy, Belgium, Holland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, etc.
But at first, in Europe, potatoes were perceived as a curiosity. Sometimes people did not know the simplest thing: what is edible in a plant. They used it as an ornamental plant for beautiful flowers, then we tried the fruits - green berries. A funny story happened in Ireland. The gardener spent a long time caring for the new plant. After the potatoes bloomed, he collected a harvest from the bush - green berries the size of a hazelnut. These fruits turned out to be completely inedible. The gardener began to destroy the plant. He pulled the bush by the top and large tubers fell at his feet. After boiling them, he realized that the potatoes were tasty, but they were eating them from the wrong end.
The agronomist who discovered that potatoes are tasty and nutritious, and not at all poisonous, is Antoine-Auguste Parmentier.
Potatoes were first brought to Russia by Peter I at the end of the 17th century. He sent a bag of tubers from Holland to the capital to distribute to the provinces for cultivation. At first, the people did not want to recognize this foreign product. Many people died due to poisoning from eating the fruits and refused to plant this overseas plant.
In Russia, potatoes took root with difficulty. Then the ruler was Nicholas 1, nicknamed Palkin. Under him, guilty soldiers were beaten to death with sticks. He decided to plant potatoes with a stick. People believed rumors that potatoes were “damn apples” and brought evil. “Potato riots” broke out. The rebels were beaten with rods and even exiled to Siberia for disobedience.
But time passed, and potatoes turned from an unwanted “guest” into a full-fledged master on the table, becoming the second bread for both Russia and the whole of Europe. You can prepare excellent dishes from potatoes: boiled potatoes, fried, baked, mashed potatoes, potato casseroles, pancakes, potato pies, dumplings, etc.
In each country, potatoes are called differently. The English are potatos. The Dutch - hardapel (translated as “earth apple”). The French - pom de terre (“earth apple”). Italians - tartufel. The Germans are potatoes. Russians love potatoes. That's how many names potatoes have!
Potato dishes
Biology of potatoes.
POTATOES are a perennial (in cultivation – annual) plant of the nightshade family, which is grown for its edible tubers. There are mainly two closely related species - the Andean potato, which has long been cultivated in South America, and the Chilean potato, or tuberous potato, widespread in countries with temperate climates.
There are edible sweet potatoes, or yams. It belongs to a different plant family.
Yam (sweet potato)
Tuberous potatoes are grown in 130 countries, where 75% of the world's population lives. It is the fifth most important source of calories in the diet after wheat, corn, rice and barley. modern man. The leading potato producers are Russia, China, Poland, the USA and India.
Tuberous potatoes are herbaceous plant, erect when young, but lies down after flowering. Stems are 0.5–1.5 m long, usually with 6–8 large pubescent leaves. Modified shoots (stolons) extend underground from the tuber. Tubers form at their ends. The root system penetrates to a depth of 1.5 m. Flowers (yellow, purple or blue) are formed in 6-12 inflorescences. Pollination by wind or insects, self-pollination is widespread. The fruit is a spherical berry, ripe form purple, contains up to 300 seeds. The seeds are flat, yellow or brown, very small. The tubers have a spherical or oblong shape; those that have reached a length of 8–13 cm are usually eaten. Their external color is white, yellow, pink, red or blue; inner part more or less white. On the surface of the tuber lie the so-called. ocelli bearing 3–4 buds. The formation of tubers begins just before flowering and ends at the end of the growing season. There are large reserves of starch inside the tuber.
Potatoes are propagated vegetatively - by tubers. Germination of tuber buds in the soil begins at 5-8° C ( optimal temperature for potato germination 15-20°C). The best soils for potatoes are chernozems, sod-podzolic soils, gray forest soils, and drained peat bogs.
Non-standard ways of growing potatoes.
There are a great variety of ways to plant potatoes. From industrial to almost decorative - growing in barrels. Potatoes are planted on ridges and in trenches, in a checkerboard pattern and under film. The choice of technology depends, firstly, on the soil. Where they come close groundwater, and in low areas it is better to prefer landing on ridges. In dry places - in trenches or separate holes.
To collect early harvest potatoes, tubers are planted under black non-woven material. The area is dug up, fertilizer is applied, leveled with a rake and covered with black film, securing the edges. Then you need to make cross-shaped cuts in it, dig holes with a depth of 10–12 cm with a scoop and place the tubers in them. This method will protect potatoes from frost, retain moisture in the soil, avoid weed control and, finally, get a harvest almost a month earlier. That's how they grow it early varieties potatoes. During harvesting, the tops are cut off, the film is removed, and the tubers are collected almost from the surface of the soil.
There is one more interesting way intensive cultivation potatoes - in a barrel. You need to take a tall, preferably without a bottom, barrel (iron, plastic, wooden, wicker). Make holes around the circumference so that water does not stagnate and the soil can breathe. Place several potatoes at the bottom of the container in a circle or in a checkerboard pattern and cover with a layer of soil. When the seedlings reach 2–3 cm, cover them again with soil. And so on several times until the barrel is filled to about a meter in height. The main thing is not to let the sprouts hatch completely, that is, to form the green part. In this case root system will stop developing and a thick stem will stretch all the way to the surface of the earth. The soil in the container needs to be regularly fed and watered well, especially in hot, dry weather. As a result, in a container with a volume of about one cubic meter You can grow a bag or more of potatoes.
Interesting Facts.
There is a potato museum in Belgium. Among its exhibits are thousands of items telling the history of the potato, from postage stamps with its image to famous paintings on the same subject (Van Gogh's The Potato Eaters).
On some tropical islands, potatoes were used as money.
Poems and ballads were dedicated to potatoes.
Potatoes were once glorified in his music by the great Johann Sebastian Bach.
There are two rare varieties in which the color of the peel and pulp remains blue even after cooking.
Different varieties of potatoes.
One of the most common varieties with bluish skin grown in Russian gardens is “sineglazka”. However, few people know that it is scientifically called “Hannibal”, in honor of Alexander Pushkin’s great-grandfather Abram Hannibal, who was the first to conduct experiments on the selection and storage of potatoes in Russia.
A monument to potatoes was opened in the city of Minsk in the 2000s. In Mariinsk ( Kemerovo region) will open soon.
In Ireland, a gardener spent a long time caring for a plant that his owner brought from America. After the potatoes had flowered, he collected a harvest from the bush - green berries the size of a hazelnut. These fruits turned out to be completely inedible. The gardener began to destroy the plant. He pulled the bush by the top and large tubers fell at his feet. After boiling them, he realized that the potatoes were tasty, but they were eating them from the wrong end.
II. Research objectives:
Is it possible to grow a potato plant indoors during the polar night?
Compare the growth and development of plants placed in different conditions.
Find out whether it is possible to get identical plants by planting potatoes with whole tubers or halves.
Research objectives:
Find information in literature, the Internet, TV shows, and videos.
Prepare the container and soil for planting.
Sprout the potatoes in a warm place and then plant them in the soil.
Place the planted potatoes with whole tubers and halves of tubers in different conditions:
1. additional lighting + heat (control plant);
2. without lighting + heat;
3. without additional lighting + reduced temperature;
When the potatoes begin to sprout, record the results in an observation diary.
Take measurements, take photographs, write down your thoughts and assumptions in an observation diary.
Based on the results obtained, draw up a table, then build a graph and draw conclusions, and, if possible, make recommendations.
Experiment scheme.
06.01.09 – planted potatoes with whole tubers.
02/06/09 – completed the experiment.
01/06/09 – planted potatoes in halves.
02/06/09 – completed the experiment.
Conditions for conducting the experiment.
III. Methodology for conducting the experiment.
When I did not yet go to school and spent a lot of time with my grandmother, in the village, I noticed that she plants potatoes in the garden and whole tubers, and cuts them in half if the potatoes are large.
While conducting an experiment with growing potatoes in an apartment, I decided to compare:
1. Growth and development of potato plants placed in different conditions (three options).
2. Growth and development of a potato plant planted with whole tubers and halves under the same conditions.
If we assume that potatoes from halves will grow and develop no worse than from whole tubers, then fewer potatoes will be needed to plant the same area. It's more profitable. I will draw conclusions based on my assumption after observations.
At the end of December, I selected healthy potato tubers and placed them in a warm, dark place to sprout.
01/06/09 – planted them in prepared soil and placed them in selected places. These are the three options I mentioned earlier.
Watered the plant every 2 days.
I planted the germinated tubers.
10.01 – the first sprout appeared in V. 2.
13.01 – sprouts appeared in V. 1 and V. 3.
First shoots.
Every 5 days I measured the height of all plants and recorded them in a table. The difference in plant height became more and more noticeable. Plant B. 2. “rushed forward” and “lead” until the end of the experiment, gaining a height of 62 cm.
This didn't surprise me. The plant stood in a dark place. I assumed that it would grow faster, “look for the light,” reach for it. Plant B. 3. grows more slowly. It lacks light and the cold slows down its growth. V. 1 is in favorable conditions and grows almost like in a garden.
First shoots. After 10 days.
As a result of observations, it became noticeable that both the color and thickness of plant stems in three options is different. IN different time leaves appear, they have different colors and their color changes depending on growth.
So, in Option 1, the stems and leaves are “strong” and large. They immediately purchased green color and remained so until the end of cultivation. This is understandable because the plant received enough light. The leaves of any plant contain a coloring substance (chlorophyll), which appears in the presence of heat and light. This plant is similar to those that grow in the garden.
In Option 2 - throughout the entire time, the stems are white, long, thin and the leaves are small, yellowish, although they appeared first. This plant was in the dark, did not receive light, and did not produce chlorophyll. It is the highest, but weak.
In Option 3, the stems and leaves are pale green throughout the entire observation period, the leaves are small. It was illuminated periodically. This plant ranks 2nd in development.
Any plant needs water to grow. I noticed that the plant needed to be watered more often if it was kept warm with additional lighting. This means that the moisture evaporated faster here. Potatoes that were in a dark place were watered less often than others.
Potato plants planted with whole tubers and halves do not differ in their development and appearance.
IV. Processing of received data.
On 02/06/09 the last measurements were taken and the results were entered into the table.
13. 01. 09 0,6 3 0,4
18. 01. 09 2 11 4
22. 01. 09 13 20 10
27. 01. 09 21 38 17
01. 02. 09 27 48 23
06. 02. 09 35 56 29
Results of measuring the height of potato sprouts planted with whole tubers.
Chart No. 1
Height, cm Option 1 Option 2 Option 3
13. 01. 09 0,5 4 0,5
18. 01. 09 1,5 18 3
22. 01. 09 7 35 11
27. 01. 09 23 43 18
01. 02. 09 25 52 20
06. 02. 09 42 62 25
To clearly see the results of potato growth, you can build a graph.
Results of measuring the height of potato sprouts planted in halves.
Schedule No. 2
V. Conclusion.
1. Potato plants can be grown at home during the polar night.
2. Based on the results of observations and measurements, it can be seen that a plant placed in a warm place without constant lighting grew taller than others. It is tall, but very pale and weak. The leaves are small yellowish. The plant was drawn to the light, all its strength went into growth, and not into its development. Plant height 62 cm.
Option 2
The most beautiful and developed plant is one placed in a warm place with additional lighting. This potato spent its nutrition on development: the stem and leaves are green and large.
Plant height 42 cm.
Option 1
3. A plant grown in a cool place without constant light is light green, slightly elongated, the stem is thin, the leaves are small and very light. It did not receive enough light and heat.
Plant height 25 cm.
4. For better development of potato plants in indoor conditions, you need:
Additional lighting with fluorescent lamps;
Regular watering; Option 3
5. Plants planted with whole tubers and halves do not differ in growth. We can conclude that it is more profitable to plant tubers cut into pieces in the garden. It will be more economical this way. It’s better to use the remaining potatoes for food and cook something tasty.
6. A plant grown with your own hands brings great joy. It becomes like a friend. Every day you meet with it, take care of it, you can talk (by the way, then it will grow better).
I haven't finished my work. Spring is coming, I still want to see if it will bloom, and maybe small tubers will appear.
There are many more different experiments that can be carried out with plants, and perhaps in next year I will continue to work in this direction.
I have achieved my goal.
This is how the potatoes grew during the experiment.
On July 28, 1586, the first potatoes arrived in Europe! According to one version, it was then that the Englishman Thomas Herriot from Colombia brought her to his homeland. The British believe that they were the first to taste the taste of potatoes and made them the property of European cuisine.
However, at first Europeans perceived potatoes as rare exotic plant and put in the best botanical gardens. It also appeared in some private collections, where it was grown for the exquisite beauty of the flower. In the 17th century, the overseas vegetable began to penetrate European cuisine.
Oddly enough, the recognition of potatoes in Europe was greatly facilitated by the years of famine caused by crop failure. Every time a famine struck a country, its rulers remembered potatoes. It was more productive and less dependent on the vagaries of the weather. Royal and other decrees followed to force the planting of potatoes.
However, at first many people did not even realize that only the tubers of potatoes are edible. The peasants tried to eat its fruits, which resembled green berries. However, they were not only inedible, but even poisonous.
Trying to break the peasants' prejudice towards the overseas vegetable, the Prussian king Frederick William ordered potato tubers to be distributed free of charge to the peasants. And the French naturalist Antoine Parmentier came up with another trick. Potatoes were planted on state lands and protection of the plantations was organized during the day. At night, the guards went to bed, and meanwhile the peasants dug up the crops.
So potatoes quickly spread throughout France. Subsequently, descendants erected a monument to Antoine Parmentier.
Today, many gardeners successfully grow potatoes. Delicious and nutritious dishes are prepared from it. The history of the vegetable is truly amazing. Let's remember where the homeland of potatoes is located, and how the culture appeared in European countries and Russia.
Where is the homeland of potatoes?
Every educated citizen should know that the birthplace of potatoes is South America. Its history began more than ten thousand years ago in the territory adjacent to Lake Titicaca. The Indians tried to grow wild potatoes and spent a lot of time and effort on it.
The plant became an agricultural crop only five thousand years later. Thus, the birthplace of potatoes is Chile, Bolivia and Peru.
In ancient times, Peruvians idolized the plant and even made sacrifices to it. The reason for this veneration has never been established.
Today, more than 1,000 varieties of potatoes can be found on the commercial market in Peru. Among them are green tubers the size of Walnut, crimson specimens. Dishes from them are prepared right at the market.
Adventures of Potatoes in Europe
Europeans first tried potatoes, which originated in South America, in the 16th century. In 1551, geographer Pedro Cieza da Leon brought it to Spain, and later described its nutritional properties and taste qualities. Each state greeted the product differently:
- The Spaniards loved him for appearance bushes and planted in flower beds like flowers. Residents of the country also appreciated the taste of the overseas food, and doctors used it as a wound-healing agent.
- The Italians and Swiss enjoyed preparing various dishes. The word “potato” itself is not associated with its South American homeland. The name comes from "tartufolli", which means "truffle" in Italian.
- Initially, in Germany, people refused to plant the vegetable. The fact is that the population of the country was poisoned by eating not tubers, but berries, which are poisonous. In 1651, King Frederick William the First of Prussia ordered the ears and noses of those who opposed the creation of culture to be cut off. Already in the second half of the 17th century, it was grown in vast fields in Prussia.
- Potatoes arrived in Ireland in the 1590s. There the vegetable took root well even in unfavorable climatic areas. Soon, a third of the area suitable for farming was planted with potatoes.
- In England, peasants were rewarded with money for growing potatoes, the homeland of which is considered to be South America.
Europeans for a long time Potatoes were undeservedly called “the devil’s berry” and destroyed due to mass poisoning. Over time, the product became a frequent guest on the table and received universal recognition.
Gallant France
The French believed that potato tubers were the food of the lower stratum of society. The vegetable was not cultivated in this country until the second half of the 18th century. Queen Marie Antoinette wove the flowers of the plant into her hair, and Louis the 16th appeared at the ball pinning them to his ceremonial uniform.
Soon, every nobility began to grow potatoes in flower beds.
A special role in the development of potato production was played by the royal pharmacist Parmentier, who planted a plot of arable land with vegetables and assigned a company of soldiers to guard the plantings. The doctor announced that anyone who steals a valuable crop will die.
When the soldiers went to the barracks at night, the peasants dug up the ground and stole the tubers. Parmentier wrote a work on the benefits of the plant and went down in history as a “benefactor of humanity.”
History of potatoes in Russia
Potatoes appeared in our country thanks to Tsar Peter the Great. The emperor brought new products, clothing, and household items from Europe. This is how potatoes appeared in Rus' at the beginning of the 18th century, which peasants began to grow on the orders of the Tsar.
People did not value tubers the way they did in his homeland. The peasants considered them tasteless and were wary of them.
During wars, this vegetable saved people from hunger and already in the mid-18th century it became the “second bread”. The product became widespread thanks to Catherine II. In 1765, the government recognized its usefulness and obliged peasants to grow “earth apples.”
In 1860, a famine began in the country, forcing people to eat potatoes, which, to their surprise, turned out to be quite tasty and nutritious.
Over time, the earthen apple began to be cultivated throughout the country. Even the poor could afford it, because the culture is able to adapt to climatic conditions.
Today the benefits and chemical composition The product has been sufficiently studied by specialists. Agricultural producers have learned to properly care for crops and protect them from diseases and pests.
Conclusion
Currently, potatoes are among the staple foods and are an essential ingredient in many recipes. There is no need to idolize potatoes, as the Peruvians, the inhabitants of the homeland of potatoes, did. You should treat this root vegetable with respect, know where it came from and what it is useful for.
Where did potatoes come to Europe and when? and got the best answer
Answer from Simply))[guru]
Potatoes are one of America's main gifts to the Old World during the Age of Discovery. As British historians describe, the ship with the first tubers, having completed the transatlantic journey, arrived on the shores of Great Britain on December 3, 1586. Potatoes were brought from what is now Columbia by Sir Thomas Harriet. After this, the already unknown vegetable began its journey across the continent and different parts Sveta. Over the past centuries, it has gained such a strong position in kitchens different countries, which received the status of a “national” dish.
Some historians argue that potatoes could have appeared in Europe several years earlier. There is even a version that potatoes came to Europe thanks to the famous pirate Francis Drake, who brought them in 1580. However, there is no exact date other than December 3, 1586. Although another date is connected with the history of potatoes: in 1533, the Spaniard Chesa de Leon, who described the tubers in the book “Chronicles of Peru”.
Source: Internet
Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Where did potatoes come to Europe and when?
Answer from Baby[guru]
From America!
Answer from Sourire[guru]
The homeland of potatoes is South America. Potatoes were grown across a vast area of the central plateau in the Andes, from ancient city Cusco to Lake Titicaca. According to the American botanist D. Jugent, the indigenous people of Peru first began cultivating potatoes 12 thousand years ago. The scientist came to such conclusions based on studying the remains of potatoes discovered during excavations by archaeologists of ancient settlements of Peruvian Indians.
The Indians ate potatoes in the form of chunyo - a kind of “canned food”. Chuno was prepared this way: potato tubers were repeatedly frozen at night and dried in the sun during the day - dried tubers were obtained. The Chuno product could be stored for 3-4 years. In our country, food made from chuño would hardly have caused delight, but in the life of the Indians this product played a paramount role. It is not surprising that the Indians deified the potato, worshiped its spirits, organized magnificent celebrations in its honor, and made human sacrifices as gifts. Celebrating the harvest festival, the Indians of Ecuador sacrificed 100 children. When Europeans first attended this festival, the ritual of sacrifice was no longer so cruel and monstrous; Only a lamb was sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled on the potatoes, and children, smartly dressed for the occasion, only carried potato tubers in baskets.
The first Europeans to see potatoes were the sailors of H. Columbus. This is how Columbus’s first biographer wrote about potatoes: “Colon (i.e. Columbus) discovered one island Hispaniola (Haiti), whose inhabitants eat special root bread. On a small bush grow tubers the size of a pear or a small pumpkin; when they are ripe, they are dug out of the ground in the same way as we do with turnips or radishes, dried in the sun, chopped, ground into flour and baked from it into bread...”
I saw potatoes in Peru and the conquistador Francisco Pissaro and his thugs, but they were not at all interested in the inconspicuous plant; Inca gold was on their minds. But it aroused the interest of a 13-year-old boy, Pedro Chiesa de Leon, who was in a detachment of conquistadors and did not care about gold: he was amazed by the life of the people of Peru. In 1553, Pedro Chiesa de Leon published the book “Chronicle of Peru” in Spain, where he introduced Europeans to the amazing country and its inhabitants. From the same book, Europeans learned about the existence of potatoes.
Potatoes became known in Europe around 1565, and it has not yet been established exactly who first introduced them. It is most likely that the Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe: along with the looted wealth of the New World, they brought strange animals and plants. There is another version, based on documents: potatoes were first brought to Europe by Francis Drake, the notorious “Queen Elizabeth’s pirate.” Drake was not only an unsurpassed master of sea robbery, but also made important geographical discoveries and was fond of collecting the flora and fauna of America.
As an overseas curiosity, potatoes were first planted in botanical gardens. Systematic botanists found themselves in a difficult position: how to classify a plant, what genus to classify it into. To begin with, the foreign plant was given the Indian name “papa” (that’s what the Peruvian Indians called potatoes). Then, due to its similarity to sweet potatoes in forming underground tubers, English botanists named it sweet potato (potato in English). Only in 1590, the Swiss botanist Bouchen, based on the structure of the flower and fruit, came to the conclusion that the overseas plant was closely related to plants of the nightshade genus, well known to botanists. Bowchen gave the name to a plant from America - Solyanum tuberosum esculentum, which means edible tuberous nightshade. Subsequently, this specific name for the plant was finally assigned to C. Linnaeus. The British still had the previous name for potatoes - potato, but they had to call the real sweet potato sweet potato.
Answer from Kostya Vlasov[guru]
Since time immemorial, this is an annual herbaceous plant from the nightshade family with white or purple flowers gained fame as the first vegetable among the peoples of different countries. Two thousand years ago, the Indians of Peru knew how to cook “chunio” from potatoes, for which the chopped tubers were left overnight under open air, crushed in the morning, then dried and obtained a kind of canned potato, suitable for long-term storage. Potatoes came to Europe many centuries later. It is believed that the famous pirate of the period of Great Geographical Discovery, Vice Admiral Francis Drake, took the mysterious tubers of this wonderful plant from South America, for which later grateful descendants erected a monument to him with the following inscription on the pedestal: “To Sir Francis Drake, who spread potatoes in Europe. 1580 Millions of farmers around the world bless his immortal memory. This is help to the poor, a precious gift from God, alleviating bitter need.”
However, for a long time, Europeans treated potatoes with great distrust and did not dare to eat them, but recognized them only as feed for pigs. The Parisian pharmacist Antoine Parmentier once treated the King of France to boiled potatoes, who liked this dish so much that he began to wear potato flowers on his ceremonial camisole, and the queen decorated her hair with them. But simple people“earth” or “devil” apples were still avoided. Then Parmentier attached signs in his garden next to the potato beds asking... do not come close to the plant. The forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, and within a few days all the neighbors of the cunning pharmacist began to plant potatoes in their gardens.
The potato culture did not immediately take root in Russia, since the clergy and Old Believers did their best to prevent the spread of the plant. And in the middle of the last century, a wave of “potato riots” swept through many Russian provinces, when peasants refused to plant “damn” apples, or “unclean fruits of the underworld.”
Nowadays potatoes are valued not only as the first vegetable, from which chefs can prepare more than 300 dishes, but also as medicinal plant. White, red or purple potato tubers - real chemical laboratory. They contain up to twenty-five percent starch, which has long been used in medical practice as a gentle anti-inflammatory and enveloping agent for gastrointestinal disorders, as well as for the preparation of pharmaceutical tablets. Tubers are rich in fiber, pectin and other carbohydrates, as well as proteins, amino acids, vitamins B, C, PP, carotene, organic acids, especially citric and malic, mineral salts, lipids and other compounds. And the specific “potato” smell of the tubers is due to the presence of essential oil in them.
