Let the Sky Rain Potatoes:
Why does the West love potatoes so much?

Picture a typical lockdown night – my boyfriend, Alex, and I are starting to think about dinner. Whilst discussing the possibilities, he points to the four potatoes I have already assembled in readiness on the kitchen table: “No, we had potatoes last night, we can’t have potatoes every night, Lizzy.” A blazing row ensues.

Yes, this row was partly rooted in the fact that I simply love potatoes – I regularly cook potatoes at home, nearly always order them at restaurants, and have even been the recipient of numerous potato-themed gifts (thank you to Nicole Shaw for replacing the potato-themed recipe book I was given by an ex, and thus forced to throw out dramatically as part of a post-breakup soul cleanse). My lifelong devotion aside, the potato is undeniably a dietary staple. It can be roasted, boiled, chipped, hashed, curried, and fried – that is the beauty of the potato and why it can be had every day. “That is what Sir Francis Drake himself intended,” I declare. My boyfriend is not convinced, and we have rice instead.

But this got me thinking – how much do I actually know about this humble root vegetable that I cherish so dearly? 

The theme of this month’s issue is “Cultural Touchstones,” and whilst I admit the potato has not recently directed any cinematic masterpieces or penned any works acclaimed as the zeitgeist of modern times, it has left its own potato-shaped mark on Western history, and is a dietary staple of millions across the world. So, let’s explore its rise to power.

Where did these delicious things come from?

Officially, it is believed that the potato was originally cultivated as a food crop in South America between 5000-8000 BC, but remains of potato plants have been recovered around central Peru from 500-2500 BC. That already arms the humble spud with about 8000 years as a staple of an entire continent before it ever reached the West. In fact, the existence of the potato is not only verified by such mummified tubers, but by potato-inspired ceramics made by early Peruvian civilisations! (1) That’s one art project I can certainly get behind.

From what I can gather, the potato was brought back to Europe from the Americas by early colonists – firstly via Spain and then, famously, via the British Isles by one Sir Walter Raleigh. This idea has always made me giggle in that the potato (so unexciting that it has become a synonym for being dull, lazy or plain-looking) was once a glamorous and exotic foodstuff proffered to Queen Elizabeth I as a venerated gift. Allegedly, this gift prompted a royal feast where the potato was served as starter, mains, and dessert. Although this personally sounds delicious, in a true show of colonial ignorance, it appears that the cooks threw out the potato itself and served the Royal Court boiled potato sprouts (which, of course, are toxic). This made everyone desperately sick.

“No Potatoes, No Popery!” – The potato’s rocky start in Europe

Maybe such potato-related faux-pas is what made everyone so suspicious of it in the first place and accounted for its relatively slow spread across Europe. Indeed, it was so distrusted by the general population that they were known as “the devil’s apples” (2) and widely recognised as the cause of numerous ills ranging from inconvenient, to downright sinful. These include, but are not limited to: wind, sexually transmitted infections, infertility, hypersexuality, death, and (for some reason) an association with Roman Catholicism. Yes, “No Potatoes, No Popery!” was apparently a real anti-Catholic campaign motto in England in the 1700s. (3)

I’m sure that 15th-18th century peasant Lizzy (myself) would have found a way to deal with a little heresy and rampant sexual lust in return for some roasties with gravy. In fact, the idea of the potato as an aphrodisiac is the “root” of the title of this article, as in Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” Falstaff expresses his wishes to seduce the wives in question by asking for it to “rain potatoes” and for other Elizabethan aphrodisiacs, such as “kissing-comfits” and “snow eringoes.” 

Europe falls in love

Indeed, it was only through decades of persuasion and cajoling that people began to trust this lumpy, starchy tuber. For instance, when Prussia fell into famine during his reign, King Frederick the Great had to officially command for potatoes to be disseminated and eaten by the starving peasants. Thereafter, he allegedly became known as the Kartoffelkönig, or, “The Potato King.”

Over the border in France, 18th century pharmacist, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, was so convinced of the potato’s importance that he literally devoted his life to promote the cultivation of potatoes to end national hunger. For instance, in 1785 he deliberately placed troops outside his potato fields to convince the local peasantry that whatever he grew there was infinitely valuable. The peasants snuck in, stole the potatoes, and unwittingly helped to instigate the habit of potato-eating in both France and surrounding countries. Not only did even Marie Antoinette adopt the potato blossom as a fashionable hair-piece, but Antoine-Augustin was justly rewarded by history for this service by having the dish “Parmentier potatoes” named after him. (4)

The Potato Powerhouse: “At long last the continent could produce its own dinner” (5)

Eventually, certain figures began to recognise that potatoes could be the solution to the constant famines plaguing early Europe. They were calorie-dense, resistant against spoil or rot, extremely easy to grow, and able to survive on “fallow ground” – land usually left unsown for certain periods so as to not exhaust the soil. When England alone suffered 17 major famines from 1523-1623 alone, it appears that the humble spud was sorely needed. And certainly, The Smithsonian states that “Routine famine almost disappeared in potato country” (which covered everywhere from Ireland to Russia), and claims crops such as corn, guano, and the potato as the reason the population of Europe was able to grow to where it is today. (6)

Yet, the importance of the potato goes beyond merely neutralising the threat of famine. German Marxist Friedrich Engels described the spud as having a “historically revolutionary role” with regards to its role in the population boom that instigated the Industrial Revolution in 19th century Britain. (7)

Further still, the potato is the root of certain agricultural practices that literally dictate world food production today. For instance, an 18th century farmer threw a green paint named “Paris Green” over his potato plants in desperation when faced with an epidemic of potato beetles. The ingredients of the paint (mainly arsenic with copper) successfully killed the beetles, unwittingly leading to further investigation in the idea of chemical pest-control and the creation of pesticides to protect crops. (8)

The Irish Potato Famine

That’s not to say that everything the potato did was good. In the early nineteenth-century, the potato blight known as “Phytophthora infestans” began in America, as a result of the lack of genetic diversity within potato species around the world. Within decades, it had spread to Europe and caused the Irish Potato Famine. 

By the end of the 18th century, forty percent of the population in Ireland survived on potatoes alone as a solid food source, ultimately leading to the devastating impact of the blight’s arrival in Ireland in 1845. Recognised as one of the greatest catastrophes of the age, the famine killed over one million people and forced another million to emigrate. The Smithsonian states that if a famine of similar proportions struck the U.S in 2011, it would have killed over 40 million people. (9)

Conclusions

As we can see, the humble spud has had far more influence on the globe than one might realise. It has not only brought countless people joy in various forms, but has both positively influenced and crippled the very economic and demographic progress of entire nations. Conclude what you will, but I shall be smugly sending this finished draft to the aforementioned churlish boyfriend to show how insignificant and ungrateful he is to refuse a vegetable that has literally changed the course of the world.

Sources:
(1)  Potatoes USA- https://www.potatogoodness.com/potato-fun-facts-history/
(2) Ley, Willy- “The Devil’s Apples”, For Your Information, Galaxy Science Fiction, 1968
(3) What’s Cooking America- https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm
(4) What’s Cooking America- https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm
(5) How the Potato Changed the World by Charles C. Mann- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
(6) How the Potato Changed the World by Charles C. Mann- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
(7) Propitius Esculent: The Potato in World History by John Reader, 2008
(8) How the Potato Changed the World by Charles C. Mann- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-potato-changed-the-world-108470605/
(9) ibid.

Lizzy Laycock is a fourth year student at the University of Edinburgh studying English Literature and History. She is a regular author at Ensemble Magazine, and you can find more of her writing here.