The United Nations designated 2008 as the international year of the potato, and I think the humble spud deserves the salute.
The potato is and has been much maligned. Today, carb-phobic dieters consider it too fattening. In the 17th century, European elites thought it was pasty, insipid, and indigestible. It was fit for peasants, with their coarse tastes and sturdy stomachs, but not for delicate creatures like themselves, nobles believed.
Even earlier, some thought the potato was poisonous or caused leprosy. Since potatoes weren’t mentioned in the Bible, being a New World food, some Puritans wouldn’t eat them.
It’s fascinating that some of the best-known potato preparations have French names, none more iconic than French fries, since the French were so anti-potato when it was introduced to Europe. They resisted mightily until the tireless efforts of an 18th-century Frenchman named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier made the potato acceptable. Parmentier even succeeded in getting Louis XVI to wear a potato flower in his buttonhole, which helped a lot. In recognition, many potato preparations are tagged with Parmentier’s name, most famously the potato and leek soup called potage Parmentier.
Potato flower
Certainly the potato is one of the most versatile vegetables. We bake it, boil it, roast it, fry it, sauté it, deep fry it, steam it, and cook it buried in hot coals. Potatoes can be mashed and topped with a pat of butter. Or they can be sliced and layered with cream and cheese and baked into a lush gratin dauphinois. We make potato pancakes, soups, salads, and of course, we love potato chips. We eat potatoes hot or cold, at breakfast, lunch, or dinner and, oddly enough, even for dessert.
I’ve had a wonderful pound cake made with potatoes. They give the cake a lighter, more delicate texture than most pound cakes but don’t take anything away from the flavor.
I’ve seen a seventeenth-century recipe for potato pudding, made with mashed potatoes, butter, eggs, sugar, and nutmeg mixed together and baked. There are 18th-century English recipes for potato and lemon cheesecakes – actually tarts made from a mixture of mashed potato, lemon, sugar, and cream and baked. They don’t contain any cheese.
And there are potato candies. Often called Needhams, these are an old-fashioned potato and coconut candy from Maine, which is famous for its potatoes. Needhams are said to be named after an Evangelical preacher who converted a candy-maker years ago.
Whether or not that’s the case, they are easy to make and a great cooking project for kids. The taste will remind you of Mounds bars. Needhams may not be exactly what the UN had in mind as a way to recognize the potato’s contribution to world nourishment, but they do taste divine.
POTATO CANDY or NEEDHAMS
Two-thirds cup mashed potatoes, cooled
One pound confectioners’ sugar
Six ounces grated coconut
One cup semisweet chocolate chips
One teaspoon corn syrup
Grease an eight or nine inch square pan. Mix potatoes, sugar, and coconut together until nice and smooth. Spread evenly in pan.
Melt the chocolate chips in a saucepan, then add corn syrup. Let cool. Then pour over potato mixture in the pan. Chill. Cut in small squares and serve.
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