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Spuds you like? UN dons chef's hat to mark Potato Year

AFP

November 6, 2008

The potato has been a mainstay of home cooking the world over for centuries but a new cookbook launched by the United Nations shows there's more to the humble spud than just chips, crisps or mash.
In Italy they stuff them with mascarpone, in Germany they turn them into sausages and in Moldova they're blended into soup with cheese and chives.

These are just a few of the recipes published in "The Potato: Around the Globe in 200 Recipes," unveiled Thursday by the UN's Economic Commission for Europe to mark the International Year of the Potato.

The cookbook shows how truly international the potato has become in the centuries following its transportation to Europe by the first explorers to Latin America -- including English maritime hero Sir Walter Raleigh, who presented the exotic vegetable to Queen Elizabeth I.

From "Boranie Katschalu" in Afghanistan (fried potatoes, cheese, garlic and mint) to a chicken, veal, potato and banana stew from Venezuela ("Sancocho"), the book shows the versatility of the vegetable and what can be done with a bit of imagination.

It's the world's fourth most important food after maize, wheat and rice, and it's also good for you, rich in carbohydrates, potassium and Vitamin C.

"The potato is one of the world's healthiest root vegetables, with a larger high-quality protein content than that of other roots and tubers," said UNECE official Pier Giacomo Bianchi, who is in charge of standardising seed potatoes to facilitate international trade in the crop.

"We work towards ensuring that only healthy and high-yielding seed potatoes enter the international market," he said.

Not all the recipes assembled scream healthy living, however.

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