Why does Ireland produce so many potatoes?
Why were potatoes so important to Ireland? The potato plant was hardy, nutritious, calorie-dense, and easy to grow in Irish soil. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland’s population relied almost exclusively on potatoes for their diet, and the other half ate potatoes frequently.
Are potatoes still a big staple in Ireland?
Potatoes are still a big staple across northern Europe. The special feature of the 19th century was they were really the only food available to the farm-labouring Irish, due to being apportioned only tiny amounts of marginal land. Only potatoes could produce enough calories to sustain life on those plots.
Why are potatoes popular in Ireland?
What kind of potatoes grow in Ireland?
- Rooster.
- Kerr's Pink.
- British Queen.
- Record.
- Maris Piper.
- Golden Wonder.
- Home Guard.
- Cara.
What do they use potatoes for in Ireland?
Potatoes were essential to the development of the cottier system; they supported an extremely cheap workforce, but at the cost of lower living standards. For the labourer, "a potato wage" shaped the expanding agrarian economy. The Celtic grazing lands of ... Ireland had been used to pasture cows for centuries.
When did potato come to Ireland?
1589Sir Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589, and it took nearly four decades for the potato to spread to the rest of Europe.
Where are potatoes from originally?
The potato is native to the Peruvian-Bolivian Andes. It was cultivated in South America by the Incas as early as 1,800 years ago. The Spaniards who colonized South America introduced potatoes into Europe during the second half of the 16th century.
Did Ireland create potatoes?
The potato first made its appearance in Europe about 1570, having been brought from South America by the Spaniards. Traditional wisdom has it that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the crop to Ireland about 1585. As a staple diet for the native population, it proved to be ideal.
Why is Ireland associated with potatoes?
Why were potatoes so important to Ireland? The potato plant was hardy, nutritious, calorie-dense, and easy to grow in Irish soil. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland's population relied almost exclusively on potatoes for their diet, and the other half ate potatoes frequently.
Are potatoes indigenous to Europe?
Originating from the highlands of the Andes, South America, potatoes were introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century. They were initially popular in Spain because they provided cheap sustenance for the poor.
What did the Irish eat before potatoes?
Until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century, grains such as oats, wheat and barley, cooked either as porridge or bread, formed the staple of the Irish diet.
Are potatoes Irish or German?
In fact the potato, which was originally grown in the Andes, evidently came to the German region of Franconia via the Netherlands in the Thirty Years War where it was then successfully cultivated in the mid-17th century before beginning its culinary conquest of other duchies and the Prussians.
Why didn't the Irish eat other food during the famine?
Fishing and the Famine The question is often asked, why didn't the Irish eat more fish during the Famine? A lot of energy is required to work as a fisherman. Because people were starving they did not have the energy that would be required to go fishing, haul up nets and drag the boats ashore.
What did Europe eat before potatoes?
Grains, either as bread or porridge, were the other mainstay of the pre-potato Irish diet, and the most common was the humble oat, usually made into oatcakes and griddled (ovens hadn't really taken off yet).
Did the British cause the Irish potato famine?
The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame.
What did poor Irish eat?
The Irish poor ate potatoes, and the authors estimate that there were 3 million 'potato people' before the Famine, competing for smaller plots of marginal land. The traditional dairy diet of the Irish poor declined as milk was used to feed cattle or to make butter, two export products.
What food is Ireland known for?
Don't leave Ireland without trying...Soda bread. Every family in Ireland has its own recipe for soda bread, hand-written on flour-crusted note paper and wedged in among the cookery books. ... Shellfish. ... Irish stew. ... Colcannon and champ. ... Boxty. ... Boiled bacon and cabbage. ... Smoked salmon. ... Black and white pudding.More items...
Where do potatoes come from?
The potato is a root vegetable native to the Americas, a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum, and the plant itself is a perennial in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Wild potato species, originating in modern-day Peru, can be found throughout the Americas, from Canada to southern Chile.
How many varieties of potatoes are there in the UK?
There are close to 4,000 varieties of potato each of which has specific agricultural or culinary attributes. Around 80 varieties are commercially available in the UK. In general, varieties are categorized into a few main groups based on common characteristics, such as russet potatoes (rough brown skin), red potatoes, white potatoes, yellow potatoes (also called Yukon potatoes) and purple potatoes. For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%). The distinction may also arise from variation in the comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin. Amylose, a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water. Potatoes that are good for making potato chips or potato crisps are sometimes called "chipping potatoes", which means they meet the basic requirements of similar varietal characteristics, being firm, fairly clean, and fairly well-shaped.
What are potatoes used for?
Potatoes are also used for purposes other than eating by humans, for example: 1 Potatoes are used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, poitín, or akvavit. 2 They are also used as fodder for livestock. Livestock-grade potatoes, considered too small and/or blemished to sell or market for human use but suitable for fodder use, have been called chats in some dialects. They may be stored in bins until use; they are sometimes ensiled. Some farmers prefer to steam them rather than feed them raw and are equipped to do so efficiently. 3 Potato starch is used in the food industry as a thickener and binder for soups and sauces, in the textile industry as an adhesive, and for the manufacturing of papers and boards. 4 Potatoes are commonly used in plant research. The consistent parenchyma tissue, the clonal nature of the plant and the low metabolic activity make it an ideal model tissue for experiments on wound-response studies and electron transport. 5 Potatoes have been delivered with personalized messages as a novelty. Potato delivery services include Potato Parcel and Mail A Spud.
What are the characteristics of a potato plant?
Potato plants. Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm (24 in) high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens.
How to tell difference between floury and waxy potatoes?
For culinary purposes, varieties are often differentiated by their waxiness: floury or mealy baking potatoes have more starch (20–22%) than waxy boiling potatoes (16–18%) . The distinction may also arise from variation in the comparative ratio of two different potato starch compounds: amylose and amylopectin.
What is the molecule that helps a potato retain its shape after being boiled in water?
Amylose , a long-chain molecule, diffuses from the starch granule when cooked in water, and lends itself to dishes where the potato is mashed. Varieties that contain a slightly higher amylopectin content, which is a highly branched molecule, help the potato retain its shape after being boiled in water.
How many potato varieties are there in the world?
There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Three thousand of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. They belong to eight or nine species, depending on the taxonomic school. Apart from the 5,000 cultivated varieties, there are about 200 wild species and subspecies, many of which can be cross-bred with cultivated varieties. Cross-breeding has been done repeatedly to transfer resistances to certain pests and diseases from the gene pool of wild species to the gene pool of cultivated potato species.
Overview
Uses
Potatoes are prepared in many ways: skin-on or peeled, whole or cut up, with seasonings or without. The only requirement involves cooking to swell the starch granules. Most potato dishes are served hot but some are first cooked, then served cold, notably potato salad and potato chips (crisps). Common dishes are: mashed potatoes, which are first boiled (usually peeled), and then mashe…
Etymology
The English word potato comes from Spanish patata (the name used in Spain). The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno batata ('sweet potato') and the Quechua papa ('potato'). The name originally referred to the sweet potato although the two plants are not closely related. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard referred to sweet potatoes as common potatoes, and used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for the species w…
Biology
Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm (24 in) high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, though a substantial amount of se…
History
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca. It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.
The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of Ancon (central Peru), dating to 2500 BC. The most widely cultivated variety, Solanum tuberosum t…
Production
In 2020, world production of potatoes was 359 million tonnes, led by China with 22% of the total (table). Other major producers were India, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. It remains an essential crop in Europe (especially northern and eastern Europe), where per capita production is still the highest in the world, but the most rapid expansion over the past few decades has occurred in south…
Nutrition
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a typical raw potato is 79% water, 17% carbohydrates (88% is starch), 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (see table). In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) portion, raw potato provides 322 kilojoules (77 kilocalories) of food energy and is a rich source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C (23% and 24% of the Daily Value, respectively), with no other vitamin…
Growth and cultivation
Potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes, tubers specifically grown to be free from disease and to provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, the areas where seed potatoes are grown are selected with care. In the US, this restricts production of seed potatoes to only 15 states out of all 50 states where potatoes are grown. These locations are selected for their cold, h…