Potato

A potato is a vegetable, the Solanum tuberosum. It is a small plant with big leaves. The part of the potato that people eat is a tuber that grows under the ground.

Potatoes have a lot of starch and other carbohydrates. Potatoes usually have light-brown or yellowish skins and are white or yellow inside. If the potato gets light on it, the tuber turns green and will be poisonous.


 History 
The potato came from the high and cool areas of the Andes mountains. It was grown as a food crop thousands of years ago. When Spanish conquistadores came to South America in the 1500s, they took potatoes back to Europe.

It took nearly 200 years for the potato to become a widely grown crop. In the 1630s the farmers in Ireland began growing potatoes because they grew well in the poor soils. They also have most of the vitamins that people need to live. When a potato plague destroyed the crop in 1845, the Irish Potato Famine killed many people.

The potato plant is now grown in many parts of the world. Captain William Bligh planted potatoes on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 1792. In Australia they are now the largest vegetable crop. Shoestring potatoes are "potatoes cut into very thin long pieces and fried in deep fat : very thin french fries" They are crisp all the way through, whereas potato chips are 

 Name Origin 
The English word "potato" comes from the Spanish word "patata". The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno  ('sweet potato') and the Quechua  ('potato').

 Types 
 Yukon Gold – developed in Canada
 Norgleam
 Bismark
 Coliban
 Russet
 Pontiac
 Sequoia
 Desiree – cream colored flesh, red skin
 Bintje
 Irish grown
 Potattoo
 Hattawa

Scientists in Germany have used genetic engineering to make a potato called the Amfloratus, which could be grown to make starch for making other things in factories.

 Cooking 
Potatoes are almost always eaten cooked. People cook potatoes by boiling, baking, roasting, or frying. Baked potatoes are potatoes cooked in an oven and are soft on the inside. French fries or "chips" are potatoes cut into long strips and fried until soft. Potato chips or “crisps” are potatoes cut into very thin round slices and fried until hard. Shoestring potatoes are "potatoes cut into very thin long pieces and fried in deep fat : very thin french fries" They are crisp all the way through, whereas potato chips are soft inside.

 References 

Category:Solanum