History of the Potato : from the Andes to Europe
The origins of the potato date back to around 8 000 years on the highlands of the Andes, where it grew wild. Les Incas cultivated it under the name “papa”, près de 1 000 years BC. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century and became essential in the 17th century..
The potato is neither a fruit, nor a root, it's a tuber.
He's a botanist, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau, who would have used the first, en 1762, the term “potato” which means “earth fruit”.
If the potato is today the most consumed vegetable in Europe, it took a long time to be accepted.
During the discovery of America, the potato was widely cultivated by the Incas on the high plateaus of the Andes.
The conquistadors brought them back to Spain around 1540. Its culture spread with difficulty in European countries. The poor in Spain, Italy, Prussia to Russia, consumed a little, especially roasted or boiled. But the French refused the new vegetable which they accused of making men sick, or even spread leprosy; only pigs ate it.
It’s in the 18th century, thanks to a trick of Parmentier, that the French started eating potatoes: Antoine Auguste Parmentier (born in 1737, died in 1813) is an army pharmacist and agronomist. During the Seven Years' War, he is imprisoned in Prussia and he believes that he was able to survive there thanks to potatoes. He has made a scientific study of the potato and thinks that its cultivation and consumption would make it possible to eradicate food shortages in France.. But we must overcome people's distrust of this vegetable, so he imagines a ruse.
He cultivates a potato field, demands that it be guarded day and night by soldiers, but secretly asks them not to watch too much at night. The farmers say that the potato must be precious to keep it, also some come to steal them at night... as Parmentier predicted.
The king officially eats it in front of the court ; a time, we call this vegetable “the royal orange”.
It is thanks to Parmentier that potato cultivation spread in France. A potato preparation was given the name of the pharmacist, the shepherd's pie.
She took her place on the table of the poor as well as that of the rich. We were able to write : «The potato is the vegetable of the cabin and the castle.» This vegetable helped prevent many famines.
