Potatoes are the main vegetable in the kitchen. Both adults and children love potatoes.
Fried, boiled, baked, steamed – potatoes are good in any form, and it’s rare that a feast goes by without them.
On weekdays and holidays, a potato dish is a must. And, of course, it is filling and delicious.
From a botanical point of view, the closest relatives of potatoes are eggplants and tomatoes.
Beneficial properties
- enriches the body with B vitamins, which are useful, including during periods of severe stress;
- normalizes blood pressure, has a positive effect on the restoration of intestinal microflora;
- includes complete vegetable protein, contains some antioxidants;
- helps maintain the body's water-salt balance;
- contains amino acids necessary for the body.
It is clear that with deep heat treatment, potatoes lose a number of beneficial natural properties.
Warning, danger
Did you know that potatoes produce a special toxic substance, solanine, to protect themselves from pests? Fresh potatoes contain very little of it, only about 10 mg per 100 g.
But by spring, the concentration of this poison increases several times, and, accumulating mainly near the skin, it colors the tubers green. Therefore, the skin of stale potatoes must be cut off, and green tubers should not be eaten.
Eat to your health
For many years it was believed that due to the high starch content, eating potatoes inevitably leads to excess weight. Now nutritionists have found out that the factor influencing weight is primarily the number of calories.
By the way, potatoes, like most vegetables, are a relatively low-calorie product, so you can eat them even when you need to lose weight. Naturally, in reasonable quantities, and better as a Lenten dish. For example, baked.
Let us remember that when fried, potatoes absorb a lot of high-calorie oil. Therefore, if you want to lose weight, it is better to exclude fried potatoes, French fries and potato chips from your diet.
Potatoes on the menu at Pushkin's
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was a great lover of potatoes.
There is a legend that he once fried slices of boiled potatoes in butter, and he liked the result so much that the poet began to treat his friends to the dish.
By the way, Pushkin's love for potatoes, as some historians believe, is hereditary. His direct ancestor Ibrahim Hannibal, on behalf of Catherine the Great, was engaged in potato breeding. And he achieved great success in this matter. A very popular and very tasty variety was even named in his honor - "Hannibal".
A eulogy to Andrey Bolotov
It was the great Russian scientist, botanist, and agronomist Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov (1738-1833) who was credited with transforming potatoes from an incomprehensible product for the peasant into the second bread.
Although the credit for the appearance of potatoes goes to Peter I (he brought the tubers to Russia), the introduction was facilitated by the nobleman, landscape architect and agronomist Bolotov.
His works contain recommendations not only for effective planting of potatoes, but also for storage and use. Andrey Bolotov was one of the most talented and great agronomists of his time. By the way, you can visit Bolotov's estate today when visiting the Tula region.
Facts and figures
1. Do you know why there are no Russian folk tales about potatoes? Before the "introduction" (remember the "potato" riots in the first half of the 19th century) of potatoes into the diet of the Russian population, the main root crop was the turnip. The second place was firmly held by the rutabaga. It was about these crops that fairy tales were composed.
2. Have you noticed that root vegetables differ in color, amount of starch, vitamin and mineral content? Yellow varieties of potatoes are considered to be the starchiest.
3. There are almost 5,000 cultivated varieties of potatoes in the world, with 3,000 grown in the Andes. There are also about 200 wild species.
