Who brought the potatoes. Who was the first to bring potatoes. Useful properties of potatoes

Today, potatoes are known to everyone from early childhood, because mashed potatoes- one of the first dishes of "adult" cooking, which is given to try the baby. Then he will try both the baked potato and the fried one. Cookbooks today list hundreds of recipes for dishes that can be prepared with “potatoes, a knife and a frying pan.”
But it was not always so. Even 400 years ago, no one in Europe knew the taste of this now widespread vegetable.

Chilean "dad"
Potatoes were first discovered and tasted by South American Indians. How long ago this happened, science is unknown, but there is evidence that in 800 AD. e. it has already been cultivated. The homeland of the potato is the highlands of the Andes, Chile and the island of Chiloe, still called the "potato island".

The Indians called the potato "dad". In Chile, there are about 200 types of papa, some of which are edible. Expeditions of Soviet botanists sent to Chile and Bolivia on behalf of N.I. Vavilov discovered several frost-resistant species there, which were named "Ahanuiri", "Orko-Malko", "Chin-Malko".

The Indians do not grow all types of table potatoes, but only the most large-fruited, for example, "andigenum", similar to the varieties of potatoes known to us, and "papa amarilla", or yellow potatoes (it was he who was depicted on vessels found in ancient burial grounds and dating back to 800 AD).

In South America, the potato is a fairly common plant, it can be found everywhere, as it grows there like a weed. However, there is one particularly interesting species of morelliformen, which settles in hollows of trees, clings to the bark and grows as an epiphytic plant. This species is distinguished by small star-shaped flowers and small berries.

Also interesting is the type of stemless potato, which can be found in the Andes at an altitude of 4800 m above sea level. Its leaves are collected in a rosette, like a dandelion, and after the berries ripen, the peduncle droops to the ground, hiding the berries under the leaves.

From the tubers, the Indians learned to make winter preparations, since in their natural form they were not stored for a long time. To do this, the tubers were first frozen during night frosts, and then dried in the sun during the day. The thawed potatoes were crushed with their feet for several days, then washed and finally dried, obtaining a product called "chuno". Thus, the Indians removed the bitterness from wild tubers and sought to preserve the crop.

Potatoes in Europe
In 1537, the Spanish expedition of Gonzalo Ximénez de Cosada occupied the Indian settlement of Sorokota in South America. Among the supplies abandoned by the Indians, they also found Chuno. This year went down in history as the date of the Europeans' acquaintance with the "mealy roots of a pleasant taste."

However, this fact is disputed by V. N. Cherkasov, who suggested that the potato came to the Euro-Asian continent through Alaska, Chukotka and Kamchatka, and not through Spain. This hypothesis is supported by the complexity of the sea route from Chile to Spain and the impossibility of delivering tubers through the tropics, where they inevitably had to germinate, and the Indians did not use the seed method of reproduction.

But back to Spain. According to the official version, potatoes were brought to this country by some navigator, but did not make a splash. Two tubers from this batch fell into the hands of the botanist Carol Clusius in 1565, and he grew an experimental bush in the Vienna Botanical Garden and in Frankfurt, calling the plant "Peruvian Pope", but this name did not take root in science.

The tubers were also donated to the Pope, who spread potatoes throughout Italy. The Italians found similarities between fruits and truffles, well known to them underground mushrooms, and called the new vegetable "tartuffoli". It was with this name that the Belgian artist Philippe de Sevry signed the first portrait of a potato, who completed it at the request of Clusius.
But the scientific name of the potato was only in 1596, when the Swiss Bochum called it "solanum tuberosum".

The nutritional properties of potatoes were quickly appreciated by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I. He declared the culture of potatoes a national duty of the Germans, taking care of the food of the nation after the devastating Thirty Years' War. Frederick II planted potatoes even more actively, and this caused the discontent of the peasants, expressed in the spontaneously arising “potato riots”. The suppression of these riots by the king's dragoons is historically documented.

In France, potatoes began to grow with enthusiasm. The chemist and pharmacist Parmentier played a particularly important role in the promotion of the new vegetable, who arranged free dinners from potato dishes, accompanying them with entertaining conversations. However, the nobility was in no hurry to recognize the novelty. Then Parmentier persuaded the French queen to include a potato flower in her toilet - and the demand for the flowers of the new plant instantly skyrocketed.

At the same time, "earth apples", as the potatoes were called, conquered Switzerland, Holland, and Ireland. Interestingly, from Ireland they were brought to North America called "Irish Potato".

Who brought potatoes to Russia?
We have already said that there is an assumption about the spread of potatoes through the Russian territory - Alaska, Chukotka and Kamchatka. But officially, the appearance of tubers in Russia is associated with the name of Peter I. It is known that during the first trip abroad, the young tsar sent a bag of potatoes to his close Count Sheremetev with an order to send tubers throughout Russia “for brood”. The count tasted the tuber and immediately spat out the royal gift. Despite the fact that he did not like the fruit, Sheremetev carried out the order of the sovereign, but things did not go well: the church actively opposed it, as soon as it did not curse the new plant. Potatoes were called both "God's nasty fruit", and "unholy fruit", and "devil's apple", and "cursed potato".

They returned to the issue of the distribution of potatoes only during the time of Catherine II, when it was necessary to urgently feed the starving population "without much dependency." This issue was especially taken care of by the State Medical Board, which issued a decree “On divorce and the use of earthen apples, which are called in other places “tartufels” or “kartufels”.

And this time things did not go smoothly - the Permians met the new vegetable with "potato riots", but after 30-40 years they already "use it baked, boiled, in porridges and also make their own pies and shangas from it with the help of flour; and in the cities they flavor soups with it, cook it with roast and make flour from it for making pies, ”according to the“ Economic description of the Perm province ”(1804). And in 1811, the Moscow statistician S. Chernov wrote about potato growing in central Russia: “From garden products, potatoes in many cities and villages are in such great use that they have become almost an indispensable need for food and more among the common people.”

Do you know that…
- Potatoes are related to tomatoes bell pepper, dereza, smelly tobacco, henbane and dope.

A potato tuber is an overgrown underground stem. This proves the presence of eye buds on it, from which, under favorable conditions, new shoots grow, because it is known that real roots do not form buds.

To grow a high yield of potatoes, the leaves need to assimilate up to 30 kg of carbon dioxide per 1 hectare of land.

25 million hectares are occupied by potato plantations in the world, from which yields are greater than from any of the cereals.

From one hectare of a potato field, you can get 17 liters of alcohol, while from a hundred acres of barley you get only 3.6 liters, and from a vodka of rye - 3.5 liters. No wonder Academician D.N. Pryanishnikov wrote: “Growing potatoes is the same as getting three ears of corn where one used to grow.”

From potatoes, tires are made, film and photographic films, varnishes for painting submarines and aircraft, artificial silk and perfumes, plastics, and much more.

History of the potato. How potatoes appeared in Russia

The name of the potato comes from the Italian word truffle and the Latin terratuber - earthen cone.

FROM potato related quite a few interesting stories. They say that in the 16th century, a certain admiral of the English army brought an unknown vegetable from America, with which he decided to surprise his friends. A knowledgeable cook mistakenly fried not potatoes, but tops. Of course, no one liked the dish. The enraged admiral gave the order to destroy the remaining bushes by burning. The order was carried out, after which baked potatoes were found in the ashes. Without hesitation, baked potatoes hit the table. The taste was appreciated, everyone liked it. Thus, the potato gained its recognition in England.

In France in the early 18th century, potato flowers adorned the waistcoat of the king himself, and the queen adorned her hair with them. So potato dishes were served daily to the king at the table. True, the peasants had to be accustomed to this culture by cunning. When the potatoes reached, guards were placed around the fields. Thinking that they were guarding something valuable, the peasants quietly dug up potatoes, boiled and ate.

In Russia potatoes took root not so easy and simple. The peasants considered it a sin to use the devil's apple brought from nowhere, and even under pain of hard labor they refused to breed them. In the 19th century, the so-called potato riots arose. It took quite a long time until the people realized that potatoes are tasty and nutritious.

This the vegetable is used for making snacks, salads, soups and main dishes. Potato contains proteins, carbohydrates, potassium, dietary fiber, vitamins A, B1, c. There are 70 calories in 100 g of potatoes.

About a couple of thousand years before the human era, wild potatoes played an important role in the life of the first inhabitants of the Andes. The food, which saved entire settlements from starvation, was called "chuno" and was prepared from frozen, and then dried wild potatoes. In the Andes, until that time, the Indians cherish the proverb: "Jerky without "chuno" is tantamount to life without love." Also, the dish was used as a unit of exchange in trade, as "chuno" was exchanged for beans, beans, corn. "Chuno" was distinguished by two types - white ("tunta") and black. The recipe for "chuno" is something like this: the potatoes were laid out in the rain, and left to soak during the day. Once the potatoes were sufficiently wet, they were laid out to dry under the scorching sun. To get rid of moisture as soon as possible, after thawing, potatoes were laid out in a place that was blown by the wind and gently trampled underfoot. In order to peel off the potatoes better, they were placed between special crumpled skins. When preparing black "chuno", the potatoes peeled in the above way were washed with water, and when preparing "tunta", the potatoes were lowered into a pond for several weeks, after which they were left in the sun for final drying. "Tunta" kept the shape of a potato and was very light.

After this treatment, wild potatoes lost their bitter taste and were preserved for a long time. If there is a desire to enjoy wild potatoes, the recipe is valid to this day.

In Europe, potatoes took root difficult. Apart from the fact that the Spaniards were the first Europeans to experience this culture, Spain was one of the recent countries in Europe, which truly appreciated the vegetable. In France, the first mention of potato processing dates back to 1600. The English first experimented with planting potatoes as early as 1589.

Potatoes to Russia came through the Baltic port, directly from Prussia around 1757-1761. The first official import of potatoes was connected with the foreign trip of Peter I. He sent a sack of potatoes from Rotterdam for Sheremetyev and ordered the potatoes to be scattered over various regions of Russia. Unfortunately, this attempt was not successful. Only under Catherine II, an order was issued to send to all regions of Russia, to the brood of the so-called earthen apples, and already 15 years later the potatoes were in territory, reaching Siberia and even Kamchatka. However, the introduction of potatoes into the peasant economy was accompanied by scandals and severe administrative penalties. Cases of poisoning were observed, since they did not eat potatoes, but poisonous green berries. Conspiracies against potatoes were intensified even by the name itself, as many heard "kraft teufels", which translates from German as - damn strength. To increase the rate of potato consumption, special instructions were sent to the peasants on the cultivation and use of "earth apples", which gave a positive result. Beginning in 1840, the sown area for potatoes began to increase rapidly, and soon after decades, the variety of potatoes reached more than a thousand varieties.

History of the potato

Potato originates from South America, where this plant can still be found in the wild. It was on the territory of South America that potatoes began to be cultivated as a cultivated plant. The Indians ate it, in addition, the potato was considered a living being, the local population worshiped him. The spread of potatoes around the world began with the Spanish conquest of new territories. In their reports, the Spaniards described the local population, as well as the plants that were eaten. Among them was a potato, which at that time had not yet received the name we were used to, then it was called a truffle.

A significant contribution to the spread of potatoes in European countries was made by the historian Pedro Cieza de Leon. In 1551, he brought this vegetable to Spain, and in 1553 he wrote an essay in which he described the history of the discovery of potatoes, their taste and nutritional properties, the rules for preparing and storing them.

From Spain, potatoes spread to Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and other European countries. Potato began to be valued as an ornamental plant, it was practically not eaten, considering it poisonous. Later, the nutritional and taste properties of the potato were confirmed, and it became widely known as a food product.

❧ The most expensive potato in the world is the LaBonnotte variety, which is grown on the island of Noirmoutier. Its yield is only 100 tons per year. The tuber is exceptionally tender, so it is only harvested by hand.

In Russia potatoes came thanks to Peter I. At the end of the 17th century. he sent a bag of potato tubers from Holland and ordered them to be distributed throughout the provinces so that they could grow it there. Potatoes became widespread only under Catherine II.

The peasants did not know how to properly grow and consume potatoes. Because of the many poisonings, it was considered a poisonous plant. As a result, the peasants refused to plant this crop, and this caused several "potato riots". By royal decree in 1840-1842. A mass planting of potatoes was carried out throughout the country. Its cultivation was under strict control. As a result, by the end of the XIX century. Potato plantings began to occupy large areas. It got the name "second bread" as it became one of the staple foods.

❧ There is a museum in Belgium dedicated to the potato. There you can find many exhibits depicting this plant - these are postage stamps and paintings by famous artists, such as Van Gogh's Potato Eaters.

Useful properties of potatoes

Potatoes contain a large amount of potassium, which helps to remove salt and excess water from the body. Because of this, potatoes are often used in diet food. But it is worth considering that potatoes contain a high amount of carbohydrates, so they should not be carried away by people who are prone to fullness. Potato is an indispensable assistant in the fight against gastritis, peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, it has an alkalizing effect, which is undeniably important for people suffering from hyperacidity. In addition to starch, potatoes contain ascorbic acid, various vitamins and proteins.

Potatoes were brought to Russia quite late, at the very beginning of the 18th century. This was done by Peter I, who first tried various potato dishes in Holland. Having approved the gastronomic and taste qualities of the product, he ordered the delivery of a bag of tubers to Russia for planting and cultivation.

In Russia, potatoes took root very well, but Russian peasants were afraid of an unknown plant and often refused to grow it. This is where it starts very funny story, associated with the method of solving the problem that Peter I resorted to. The Tsar ordered the fields to be sown with potatoes and armed guards were assigned to them, who were supposed to guard the fields all day long, and went to sleep at night. The temptation was great, the peasants from nearby villages could not resist and stole potatoes, which became for them a sweet forbidden fruit, from the sown fields for planting on their plots.

At first, cases of potato poisoning were often recorded, but this happened, as a rule, due to the inability of the peasants to properly use potatoes. Peasants ate potatoes, berries resembling small tomatoes, which, as you know, are not suitable for food and even poisonous.

Of course, this did not become an obstacle to the spread of potatoes in Russia, where it gained immense popularity and many times saved a significant part of the population from starvation during crop failures. No wonder in Russia potatoes were called the second bread. And, of course, the name of the potato speaks very eloquently about its nutritional properties: it comes from German words"kraft toyfel", which means "devil's power".

“Potato - has a weak, unbalanced, uncertain energy, the energy of doubt. The body becomes lethargic, lazy, sour. The solid energy of potatoes is called starch, which cannot be processed by alkaline acid in the body, is poorly excreted from the body, sharply reduces the speed of thought, and blocks the immune system. Potatoes are not compatible with any products. If it is, then separately, it is advisable to cook in uniform. In the peel and just below it is a substance that helps break down starch.

In Russia, there never was a potato, it was brought by the "dark" and cultivated by force. Gradually, they brought it out and designated it in the minds of people as the main vegetable, which greatly harmed human body. Today it is the most important vegetable product on the table, it is considered the second bread, and healthy vegetables have been transferred to the category of secondary ones.

We ask you in no case to use potatoes for students of the School of Happiness, where everything is aimed at increasing the speed of thought, because potatoes will reduce everything to zero.
Potatoes can be eaten young, for two months, then they become poison. Replace potatoes with turnips. It is no coincidence that they try to completely remove turnips from food.”
(from the book “Knowledge stored by dolmens”, A. Savrasov)

Also for anyone who is interested healthy eating it is known that potatoes are a very mucus-forming product, and mucus is practically not excreted from the body, but is deposited, causing many diseases (“traditional” medicine knows nothing about this, of course)).

There was a time when Russian Old Believers considered potatoes to be a devilish temptation. No wonder, because this foreign root crop was forcibly introduced into the Russian land! The churchmen, anathematizing, dubbed him the "devil's apple." To say a kind word about potatoes, and even in print, was very risky. But today, many of our fellow citizens are sure that potatoes come from Russia, or, at worst, Belarus, and America gave the world only french fries.

The potato was first brought to Europe after the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, who spread it to the Netherlands, Burgundy and Italy.

There is no exact information about the appearance of potatoes in Russia, but it is associated with the Petrine era. At the end of the 17th century, Peter I (and again Peter I), while in the Netherlands on ship business, became interested in this plant, and “for brood” he sent a bag of tubers from Rotterdam to Count Sheremetyev. In order to accelerate the spread of the potato, the Senate only in 1755-66 considered the introduction of the potato 23 TIMES!

In the first half of the XVIII century. potatoes were bred in significant numbers by “particular people” (probably foreigners and upper class people). Measures for the widespread cultivation of potatoes were first taken under Catherine II, on the initiative of the Medical College, whose president at that time was Baron Alexander Cherkasov. The case was originally about finding funds to help the starving peasants of Finland “without much dependency”. On this occasion, the medical board reported to the Senate in 1765 that The best way to the prevention of this disaster "consists in those earthen apples, which in England are called pottes, and in other places earthen pears, tartuffels and kartuffels."

Then, at the command of the empress, the Senate sent seeds to all places of the empire and instructions on the development of potatoes and care about this were entrusted to the governors. Under Paul I, it was also prescribed to grow potatoes not only in vegetable gardens, but also on field land. In 1811, three colonists were sent to the Arkhangelsk province with instructions to plant a certain number of acres of potatoes. All these measures were fragmentary; The mass of the population met the potato with distrust, and its culture was not grafted.

Only in the reign of Nicholas I, in view of the former in 1839 and 1840. In the wake of a crop failure in some provinces, the government took the most vigorous measures to spread potato crops. By the highest orders, which followed in 1840 and 1842, it was decided:

1) to establish in all state-owned villages public sowing of potatoes to supply the latter to the peasants for future sowing.
2) issue instructions on the cultivation, storage and use of potatoes.
3) encourage with premiums and other awards the owners who are distinguished by the cultivation of Potatoes.

The implementation of these measures met in many places with stubborn resistance from the population.
Thus, in the Irbitsky and neighboring districts of the Perm province of the states, the peasants somehow connected the idea of ​​​​selling them to the landowners with the prescription of public sowing of potatoes. A potato riot broke out (1842), expressed in the beating of the rural authorities and demanded the assistance of military teams to pacify their assistance, which in one volost were even forced to use grapeshot;

In terms of the number of peasants participating in it and the vastness of the area covered by it, this is the largest of the Russian unrest of the 19th century, which entailed reprisals, which were distinguished by the usual cruelty of that time.

Intersting fact:
The owner of the estate, General R.O. Gerngros, growing tubers since 1817, gave them to farmers for seeds. However, crops on peasant plots turned out to be sparse. It turned out that the peasants, having planted tubers, dug up and sold “damned earthen apples” for vodka at the nearest tavern at night. Then the general went for a trick: he gave out not whole, but cut tubers for seeds. Their peasants did not choose from the land and gathered a good harvest, and having convinced themselves of the convenience of potatoes, they themselves began to breed it.

In general, those who needed it and benefited from the degrading of the Russian people achieved their goal and the potato became our second bread.

The homeland of potatoes is South America, where wild plants can still be found. The introduction of potatoes into culture (first by exploiting wild thickets) began about 9-7 thousand years ago in the territory of modern Bolivia.

The Free Economic Society associated the appearance of potatoes in Russia with the name of Peter I, who at the end of the 17th century sent a bag of tubers from Holland to the capital, allegedly for distribution to the provinces for cultivation. The outlandish vegetable did not become widespread in Russia in the first half of the 18th century, although the “Historical note on the introduction of potato culture in Russia” reads:

"Foreign innovation was accepted by us individuals, mainly by foreigners and some representatives of the upper classes ... Back in the reign of Empress Anna Ivanovna, potatoes already appeared at the table of Prince Biron as a tasty, but not at all rare tidbit."

At first, potatoes were considered an exotic plant and were served only in aristocratic homes. In 1758, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences published an article "On the cultivation of earthen apples" - the first scientific article in Russia on the cultivation of potatoes. A little later, articles about potatoes were published by Ya. E. Sievers (1767) and A. T. Bolotov (1770).

State measures for the distribution of potatoes were taken under Catherine II: in 1765, the Senate's Instruction "on the cultivation of earthen apples" was issued. The manual contained detailed recommendations on the cultivation and use of the new crop and, together with potato seeds, was sent to all provinces. This happened in line with the general European trend: “Potatoes began to be cultivated on a large scale from 1684 in Lancashire, from 1717 in Saxony, from 1728 in Scotland, from 1738 in Prussia, from 1783<…>in France". Compared to rye and wheat, the potato was considered an unpretentious crop, so it was considered as a good help in crop failures and in non-grain areas.

In the “Economic Description of the Perm Province” of 1813, it is noted that the peasants grow and sell “excellently large white potatoes” in Perm, but they are skeptical about the increase in crops: “They are always ready to answer that they do not have enough time to sow the necessary bread, much more potatoes, which must be planted by hand. Peasants eat potatoes “baked, boiled, in porridges, and they also make their pies and shangi (a kind of cake) with the help of flour; and in the cities they flavor soups with it, cook it with roast and make flour from it for making kissels.

Due to the many poisonings caused by eating fruits and young tubers containing solanine, the peasant population did not initially accept the new culture. Only gradually, due to the fact that the state forced to plant potatoes, did he gain recognition, displacing turnips from the peasant diet. Nevertheless, back in the 19th century, many peasants called the potato "damn apple" and considered it a sin to eat it.

State measures were taken in the future. So, in Krasnoyarsk, potatoes have been grown since 1835. Each family was required to grow potatoes. For failure to comply with this order, the perpetrators were supposed to be exiled to Belarus, to build the Bobruisk fortress. Every year, the governor sent all the information about growing potatoes to St. Petersburg.

In 1840-42. on the initiative of Count Pavel Kiselyov, the areas allocated for potatoes began to increase rapidly. According to the order of February 24, 1841 "On Measures to Spread the Cultivation of Potatoes", the governors had to report regularly to the government on the rate of increase in the crops of the new crop. With a circulation of 30,000 copies, free instructions on the proper planting and growing of potatoes were sent throughout Russia.

As a result, a wave of "potato riots" swept across Russia. The people's fear of innovation was also shared by some enlightened Slavophiles. For example, Princess Avdotya Golitsyna "with perseverance and passion defended her protest, which was quite amused in society." She declared that the potato "is an encroachment on the Russian nationality, that the potato will spoil both the stomachs and the pious morals of our ancestral and God-protected bread and porridge eaters."

Nevertheless, the "potato revolution" of the times of Nicholas I was crowned with success. By the end of the 19th century, more than 1.5 million hectares were occupied by potatoes in Russia. By the beginning of the 20th century, this vegetable was already considered in Russia as a “second bread”, that is, one of the main food products.