You can understand potato history by following explanation:
5th Century B.C.
Archaeologists discovered potato remains to date back to 500 B.C. in the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile. The Incas grew, ate, and worshipped potatoes. They even buried potatoes with the dead. They kept potatoes hidden in bins so they could be used in times of war or famine. Then they dried them and took them along on long journeys to have them for dinner (or soaked in the stew) on the way. The ancient Inca potatoes were dark with a yellow flesh and had purplish skins.
16th Century A.D.
When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru in 1532 to search for gold, they first saw the potato.
1565- Spanish conqueror and explorer Gonzalo Jiminez De Quesada (1499-1579) took the potato to Spain as a substitute for the gold that he couldn’t find. They were called “tartuffo” by the Spanish, who thought they were a type of truffle. Soon potatoes became a staple supply item for Spanish ships. The Spanish noticed that sailors, who ate papas (potatoes), did not get scurvy.
1597-John Gerard (1545-1612), was a British author and avid gardener who was able successfully to grow the plant in his garden from Virginia roots.
The potato was introduced to England and Italy in 1585, Belgium and Germany in 1587, Austria and France in 1588, and France around 1600. The potato was considered strange, poisonous, and downright evil wherever it was introduced. The potato was accused in France and other countries of causing leprosy as well as syphilis and narcosis. It also caused rampant sexuality and soil destruction.
18th Century A.D.
1719- Potatoes were introduced to America several times in the 1600s. They weren’t widely grown for nearly a century, until 1719 when they were planted in Londonderry (New Hampshire) by Scotch Irish immigrants. From there, they spread throughout the country.
1771- Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813), a French military chemist/botanist, won a contest sponsored by the Academy of Besancon. He studied the potato Chemical Exam of the Potato. Historical accounts state that he was held by the Prussians five times during the Seven Year’s War (1756-1763), and forced to eat potatoes to survive.
1774- The Russian peasant refused anything to do with the potato until the middle of the 1700s. Frederick the Great (1712-1786), sent potatoes free of charge to starving peasants following the 1774 famine. However, they refused to touch the potatoes until soldiers arrived to convince them.
19th Century A.D.
1836- Idaho is the most closely associated state with potatoes. Henry Harmon Spalding (1804-1874), a Presbyterian missionary planted the first potatoes in Idaho. Spalding founded a mission at Lapwai, Idaho in 1836 to spread Christianity to the Nez Perce Natives. Spalding wanted to show that farming was more sustainable than hunting and gathering. The first year was a failure. However, the second year was successful. Spalding fled the area after the Indians killed the residents of a nearby mission.
1872- The Idaho potato industry took off only after the Russet Burbank potato was created by Luther Burbank (1849-1926), an American horticulturist. Burbank developed a hybrid that is more resistant to disease while improving the Irish potato. To combat the blight epidemic in Ireland, Burbank introduced the Burbank potato. He bought the rights to Burbank potatoes for $150. This money was used to travel to Santa Rosa in California. He established Santa Rosa’s nursery, greenhouse, and experimental farms, which have been renowned all over the world. The Russet Burbank potato first appeared in Idaho in the early 1900s.
20th And 21st Centuries A.D
The potato is almost a common food in Western culture today. It seems that we forget that the potato is only a few hundred years old.
