By Teresa Lazzaro, Ph.D teresamlazaro@gmail.com

V Century Before Christ Incas grow and worship papas: ancient potatoes have purplish skins and yellow flesh

1536 – Potatoes arrive in Europe from Peru:1540 Pedro Cieza de Leon writes about potatoes in the

Chronicles of Peru1609 – European sailors take the potato to China

1719 – Potatoes arrive in USA1787 Parmentier prepares a potato banquet for Louis XVI

1798 Vincenzo Corrado d’Oria writes "Trattato delle patate per uso di cibo”

1801 – President Jefferson serves French Fries at a White House dinner

1845 – The Irish potato famine1853 – Potato crisp invented in New York

1952 – They invent a toy: ‘Mr Potato Head’ 1995 – A potato grows in space

2008 – United Nations International Year of the Potato

Old ilustrations describe potatoes

Why should we eat potatoes?Because they are:

Different leaves and different flowers

In Ihado they grow mainly Russet Burbank potatoes. People bake them. Idaho is the potato State.

An old potato catalogue

An American school has a potato field andStudents grow sweet potatoes

The British and potatoes

John Mitchel is the first journalist who writes about the Irish famine.

These insects kill potatoes

A poster about potatoes

Switzerland issues a potato stamp in 2008

Americans sell T-shirts when a potato grows in space

If beef's the king of meat, potato's the queen of the garden world.

Irish Saying

"What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.“

A. A. Milne (1882-1956), popular children's author

There are many different kind of potatoes

Famous people involved with potatoes

“Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes.“

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American novelist

Money in exchange for potatoes

"Potatoes served at breakfast, At dinner served again; Potatoes served at supper, Forever and Amen!“

Pennsylvania prayer

Potato eaters is a famous painting. It is the masterpiece of Van Gogh’s Dutch period. The artist studies hands, people and food for many months in 1885. He eats with the Groot family and the children are his models. The painting celebrates the work of hands as the family eats the meal under a lamp. The colors are dark just like the colors of the working soil. The painting is in Amsterdam and you can admire it at the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation.

Irish potato bread

Potato apple cake

Roast potatoes

Potato salame

Potato soufflè

Potato focaccia

Cottage pie

Colconnon

Famous potato dishes

"A diet that consists predominantly of rice leads to the use of opium, just as a diet that consists predominantly of potatoes leads to the use of liquor."

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher

People all overthe world loveand eat potatoes

New England Clam chowder

Irish cameroon

Italian gnocchi al radicchio

Italian zeppole

Couch potatoes are peopleon sofas in front of TVfor hours

Mr PotatoHead is inthe filmToy story 3

Potatoes are in books

Michelle Obama grows potatoes

Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901– July 6, 1971) an African American is the most famous jazz musician of the 20th century. Many call him Satchmo because of his big lips.One of his first recordings in 1925 is Potato Head Blues. In Manhattan, Woody Allen considers it one of the few things worth living for.