The second bread, the best side dish and the real queen of any table is potatoes. We know that she came to us from Latin America, that potatoes are relatives of tomatoes and even heard about the poisonousness of divine tubers. Or something like that.
We will tell you about potatoes in an unusual and interesting way, something that you definitely have not heard about it yet.
The Indians of Peru and Bolivia were the first in the world to grow potatoes. In the wild, potatoes grew just in the territory of the basin of Lake Titicaca, which is between these countries. It was 4,000 years ago.
Those ancient people not only planted potatoes so that they had something to eat, but also introduced the plant into culture, and later received more than a hundred different varieties that have come down to us.
Potatoes came to Europe through the efforts of the traveler monk Neronim Cordan at the end of the sixteenth century, when he lowered the first basket of tubers on Spanish soil.
But as we all remember, the people reacted to the overseas miracle not only coolly and skeptically, the Europeans were generally afraid of those potatoes.
Therefore, for almost 200 years, the potato was covered with an aura of mysticism and was considered unfit for human consumption. And even more dangerous to health and life.
The second interesting fact about relatives.
Potatoes are related not only to tomatoes. Who could have imagined that our beloved potatoes fried with mushrooms and onions are a relative... tobacco? But yes!
Well, he goes with eggplants in his cousins, our adored potatoes. Amazing, right?
Fact three.
Almost from school, many believed that the potato "sailed" to Europe from America. Most believe that from the North, the one where the United States is now.
How about this fact: the Europeans saw the magic tubers before the North Americans. Are you surprised?
Above was already about Cordan and the 16th century, with his travel or the import of potatoes to Europe.
But potatoes came to North America as much as 100 years later. And they brought him there from Bermuda only as a gift to the Governor of Virginia. That is, potatoes never grew in North America until the 17th century.
Another amazing fact about potatoes - they are almost an orchid!
Here is a general explosion of the brain. How?
There are indeed some forms of potatoes that live on trees. These epiphytes, like orchids, are able to root in crevices, in hollows or in the bark of various thick-stemmed plants. That is, trees.
The ripe tubers then hang directly from the branches of the tree in which these potatoes sprouted. Almost a potato miracle tree!
But that's not all about potatoes. For dessert, we have prepared for you a unique and insanely strange and interesting fact.
Ready?
In the tropics, a real potato tree (Solanum wrightii Benth) grows, up to 15 meters high, it blooms all year round and looks incredible!
One problem is that the tree does not form tubers, or they appear, but they are too small in size and cannot be eaten.
But the berries of the potato tree, like all berries of any kind and type of potato for food, alas, are not suitable. They are just poisonous!
This is all the facts about potatoes for today.
Until next time!
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