Potatoes were originally grown in Europe for their ornamental flowers and fruit, although they were also treated as medicinal plants, helping to combat many ailments.Later they were a valuable delicacy served only on royal tables.
Only at the beginning of the 19th century, after more than 200 years of presence in Poland, the potato became a commonly cultivated plant. It began to be appreciated after the waves of cereal failure in the second half of the 18th century.Today, you can often hear the claim that potatoes, like corn or tomatoes, are America's greatest gift for the Old Continent. Do we know this genre well?
The number of registered potato varieties is over three thousand, although ten thousand varieties are deposited in the Peruvian potato gene bank.Potato tubers, depending on the variety, may have different colors - the most the varieties we know are white or yellow, but they can also be purple, purple-blue or pink.
Interestingly, it is these colorful varieties of potatoes that are much less known, although they are older and longer used in cultivation. At stalls in Peru you can find at least several dozen different varieties that differ in color.They owe it to the presence of anthocyanins - valuable plant pigments with high pro-he alth values.
There is a lot of information on the Internet about the "new" colored potatoes, and their prices are much higher than the "traditional" varieties.
ABC of growing colored tubers
Colorful potatoes are grown in a similar way to the known varieties.Depending on the type of soil, seed potatoes are planted in spring, in the 2nd / 3rd decade of April, when the soil temperature reaches 10 ° C, to a depth of 5-20 cm, and after sprouting out, they are dug.The soil should be quite airy, rich in organic matter - it is worth cultivating it in the second year after applying the manure.
During the growing season, the tubers should be watered, but in moderation so that they do not deteriorate. The tubers, after reaching the desired size, can be harvested successively - this is easier to do when the plants are mounded.One-time harvesting is carried out when the above-ground part begins to die out.
Unusual potato varieties
1. The early variety of 'Bila' is one of the older Polish potato varieties with yellow flesh and shallow eyes, of the general type.
2. 'Highland Burgundy Red' is distinguished by red tubers with pink flesh and a light border.They are suitable for frying and baking, they partially lose their color during cooking.
3. 'Shetland Black' is characterized by a dark blue skin and light flesh with purple-blue drips, it is perfect for crisps and fries.
4. 'La Ratte' is valued in France for the original elongated shape of the tubers and the refined taste with a nut-chestnut note; has a yellow tint.
5. 'Blue Congo' is distinguished by blue-purple tubers that fade slightly when cooked.
6. 'Skerry Blue' is an Irish variety with a red skin and yellow flesh, suitable for a versatile culinary use.
7. 'Vitelotte' is a French variety, it has an intense purple color of tubers, it is suitable mainly for baking, grilling and frying, and for crisps.
8. 'Batat', called a sweet potato, is a potato wolf, a species unrelated to potato.It has become more and more widely available on the market in recent years.Suitable for frying, baking and cooking. It takes much less time to cook than a traditional potato.
