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History
The first potatoes "raised" by man were born into the world from a womb of Andean earth. The earliest evidence of potato growing, found on the northern shores of lake Titicaca in southern Peru, dates back to 7000 years ago. The Incas, whose civilization flourished from the 12th century until the arrival of the Conquistadors from Europe, did not limit themselves to merely growing and eating potatoes: they worshipped them. Indisputable evidence comes from the pottery, which was frequently made and decorated with potato shapes. The tubers were buried with the dead, to accompany them on their final journey, as they had accompanied them on all terrestrial journeys in the form of chuo (dried potato). The "discovery" of the sweet potato by Europeans coincided with the discovery of America: some samples were taken to Spain by Columbus less than 12 months after his arrival in Haiti. The story goes that the explorer made a gift of it to the Queen of Spain, Isabella di Castiglia, and that the tubers were then planted in the court gardens. The potato, however, arrived later via the Pacific Ocean. The first European to see it was Juan de Castellanos, in 1537, as a member of the expedition of the Spanish Conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada. Castellanos tells us that on entering the Indians' houses, hidden among the folds of the central Columbian Cordilleras, were stocks of corn, beans and "truffles". The expedition, having failed to find gold on its voyage to the Americas, returned homeward with a stash of the so-called truffles, which were nothing less than potatoes. These nutritional nuggets soon became a must in the galleys of all ships because it was soon discovered that the crews fed on potatoes didn't suffer from scurvy. What's more, the tubers soon gained the reputation as a stimulant to virility, therefore with the extra benefit of increasing birth rates. This reputation as the Viagra of the Renaissance was revived during the time of Napoleon, who himself greatly contributed to increasing it after his marriage to the Creole Josephine, the sweet potato glutton. The Old World's relationship with tubers was not always rosy. Landing in Italy, England, Belgium, Germany, Austria and France at the end of the 16th century, potatoes were often looked upon with suspicion, as something strange, if not poisonous or downright evil. The hunt for potato witches was particularly intense in some parts of France during the 17th century: accused of transmitting leprosy, they were banned from the city of Besanon, with an edict around 1630. The prejudice among the peasants endured for centuries throughout Europe: potatoes were also accused of causing scurvy, syphilis, rickets and fever etc. In 1774 in famine-stricken Prussia, Frederick the Great himself stood up in favor of the potato. He sent a load of them to Karlberg to convince the population to plant them, and received an answer from the local authorities saying, "This thing ... not even the dogs want it." It was a Swabian gendarme, sent in the second attempt, who managed to change the local opinion and teach the people how to grow it.
(16/06/2006)
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