Potato : The potato is a tuber mealy originating from Peru (family of Solanaceae - Botanical name: Solanum tuberosum), which comes from a plant in the family of plants dicotyledons annual ou perennials temperate and tropical regions (such asEggplant, belladonna, petunia, pimento and p, tobacco, tomato...).
The potato has become a major commodity, as a fresh vegetable (always cooked) and as a processed product (crisps, fries), also used in distilleries, starch factories and biscuits. A medium potato of 100 g, providing 86 Kcal or 360 kJ, contains 77 g of water, 19 g of carbohydrates (starch), 2 g of proteins and mineral salts (potash, iron, iodine); it replaces 40 g of bread, but contains two and a half times fewer carbohydrates. Its nutritional qualities are interesting, provided that you avoid the excess of fatty substances to prepare it; steaming preserves its vitamins B and C, the latter being particularly abundant in “new” potatoes.
Note that the carbohydrates contained in potatoes are complex or “slow” carbohydrates, but they are “fast” carbohydrates when they are transformed into mash.
From “daddy” to “fries”. Cultivated by the Incas and the Aztecs, the potato was discovered in Peru by Pizarro and reached Europe in 1534; fifty years later, Walter Raleigh, favorite of Elizabeth II of England, made the same discovery in Virginia. The confusion between pope (potato) and potato (sweet potato) caused the English to name the potato potato and the Spanish potato, while the Italians, to whom the Spaniards made it known, called it tortufola, “small truffle”, by analogy with this mushroom which also grows underground, and the Germans Kartoffel. The potato quickly established itself throughout Europe. In France, it was Antoine Augustin Parmentier who propagated it on a national scale, at the end of the 17th century, who sought to fight against the famine which was ravaging the people, despite the prejudices which attached to this food poor, boor or soldier.
With the approval of King Louis XVI, numerous potato fields were planted around Paris: the desire for this vegetable from the New World, these unguarded fields encouraged pilferage... which allowed the development of production.
Having become a basic, healthy and inexpensive food, the potato, almost indispensable in cooking, has the richest range of recipes of all vegetables, ranging from the simplest and most popular preparations to the most refined.
Consumption and conservation of potatoes: In Europe, the average annual consumption of potatoes is around 69 kg per inhabitant (a third of which is in the form of processed products), the figure varying depending on the region (higher in the North) and the social environment. In Europe, annual consumption is around 80 kg per capita compared to 58 kg in the United States (half of which is processed products).
Potatoes should be stored in a dry, ventilated place (between 8 and 10°C), to prevent them from becoming sweet, and above all dark, to prevent greening and the appearance of solanine, which makes them bitter. and indigestible.
They are available all year round. A large part of the potatoes marketed are without the use of chemical inhibitors of the germination. Their storage at low temperature (between 6 and 8°C) allows it to be contained. For those which are treated, the mention of the treatment on the label is obligatory. Potatoes are also sold vacuum packed.
New potatoes, or early potatoes, are harvested before they are fully ripe and have a thin skin that comes off when scraped. This designation is authorized from the start of the harvest (April/May) until July 31.
The Île de Ré potato benefits from an AOC and the Merville bintje from an IGR.
Today there are two main categories of potatoes: those with floury flesh (“common consumption”) and those with firm flesh, the former being intended more for soups, fries and mashed potatoes, the latter for other preparations.
Quote from the humorist Alphonse Allais (1854-1905): “Cooked potatoes are easier to digest than terracotta apples”.
See also under Argot de Bouche: Chips ; Fry ; Muslin ; Potato ; Potato ; Purée ; Vitelotte.
Culinary uses of potatoes : Potatoes can accompany almost all meat, poultry et fish, and even the eggs (See Tortilla), and many of these associations are classic. It is also the basis of traditional, regional or foreign dishes: aligoth, creeks, goulash, gratin dauphinois ou Savoyard, shepherd's pie, Irish stew, pflutters, swiss rosti, etc.
We often note the taste potato with cheese grated, bacon, theonion, crème fraîche, Herbs to aromates. Finally, it gives consistency to many preparations. At the beginning of the 19th century, Antonin Lent even imagined making a small one pastry.
World potato production : Potatoes are grown in more than 150 countries, mainly in the northern hemisphere. The distribution of this crop stretches in latitude from 45°S to 65°N and marks two peaks, the most important in the temperate zones located between 45 and 57°N, which include Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, and the second in the subtropics located between 23 and 34°N, which particularly include the Indo-Gangetic basin.
In 2015, global potato production was estimated at 385 million tonnes, for a cultivated area of 18,8 million hectares, or an average yield of 20.51 tonnes per hectare (t/ha)143. This figure does not include plants (seeds) which represent 30,8 million tonnes (Mt), or around 10% of the total. This crop ranks fifth (in tonnage) in agricultural production globally, after sugar cane, corn, rice and wheat and ahead of sugar beet. It is the most important food dicotyledon.
A comparison by continent shows that Asia 49% and Europe 31.8% concentrate 81% of total production compared to 11.1% for the Americas, 7.6% for Africa and 0,5% for Oceania.
The highest average yield is obtained in Oceania with 41.13 t/ha compared to 26.64 t/ha in the Americas, 21.84 t/ha in Europe, 18.93 t/ha in Asia and 14.87 t/ha in Africa.
The list of the top twenty producing countries in 2015 is given in the table below with cultivated areas and average yields (source FAOSTAT).
Main potato producing countries | |||||
Year 2018 | Cultivated area (thousands of hectares) |
Performance (tons per hectare) |
Production (million tonnes) |
% world | |
1 | China | 5 645 | 17.02 | 96.088 | 24.9% |
2 | India | 2 024 | 22.92 | 46.395 | 12% |
3 | Russia | 2 101 | 14.99 | 31.501 | 8.2% |
4 | Ukraine | 1 343 | 17.64 | 23.693 | 6.2% |
5 | USA | 425 | 47.15 | 20.057 | 5.2% |
6 | Germany | 245 | 47.42 | 11.607 | 3% |
7 | Bangladesh | 496 | 19.03 | 9.435 | 2.5% |
8 | France | 168 | 47.94 | 8.055 | 2.1% |
9 | Poland | 277 | 27.77 | 7.689 | 2% |
10 | Netherlands | 155 | 45.66 | 7.100 | 1.8% |
11 | Belarus | 308 | 20.39 | 6.280 | 1.6% |
12 | Egypt | 178 | 26.97 | 4.805 | 1.2% |
13 | Iran | 160 | 29.56 | 4.742 | 1.2% |
14 | Peru | 317 | 14.79 | 4.693 | 1.2% |
15 | Algeria | 156 | 29.92 | 4.674 | 1.2% |
16 | Malawi | 270 | 17.31 | 4.669 | 1.2% |
17 | Canada | 139 | 33.03 | 4.589 | 1.2% |
18 | Belgium | 81 | 54.00 | 4.381 | 1.1% |
19 | United Kingdom | 140 | 30.09 | 4.213 | 1.1% |
20 | Turkey | 130 | 32.12 | 4.166 | 1.1% |
Total world | 18 775 | 20.51 | 385.074 | 100% |