How often do we eat potatoes? Almost every day! Neither celebrations, nor family dinners, nor outdoor recreation can do without "potatoes". Fried potatoes and mashed potatoes, various soups and casseroles, zrazy and dumplings, pancakes and chips - these are just a few of everything that can be prepared from this plant. But it was not always so.
The appearance of potatoes on the Russian table.
The potato “took root” hard in many countries, but nowhere else did the poor plant experience as much persecution as in Russia. Having appeared in Europe in the 16th century, the potato has become firmly established in the menus of Italians, Spaniards and Irish. The Germans appreciated this product only in the 18th century - hunger forced them to reconsider their attitude to potatoes, but the Russian people only by the end of the 19th century got used to a healthy and tasty plant. In vain, Peter I and Catherine the Great tried in every possible way to breed tubers in their state. In the Volga region, in the Urals and the North, real riots broke out, in response to attempts to inspire the population for potatoes. In the fight against tubers, the Old Believers were distinguished by special diligence, according to their legends, the potato was known as a "devilish" plant.
What is the value of potatoes?
Besides the fact that potatoes are simply delicious, they are also very healthy. The tubers of this plant contain a lot of vitamins and minerals. Vegetable protein, starch, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, vitamin B and, oddly enough, a lot of vitamin C. With all this, potatoes contain only 0.3% fat. Potatoes simply need to be eaten, it is a pity that many refuse it because of the carbohydrate content in it. After all, potatoes are needed not only for muscle activity, but also for hematopoiesis. Moreover, potatoes prevent scurvy and tooth loss, promote the synthesis of collagen, the most important component of female attractiveness, and increase the body's resistance to certain viral infections.
How to choose the right potatoes.
Only tubers are edible in potatoes. Green apples on a plant for food are not only unsuitable, but also hazardous to health due to the high content of solanine poison. This poison is also found in greenish tubers, so when choosing a potato, you should pay attention to its color.
Old, sprouted potatoes often turn green when boiled, so beware of buying them. In addition, old tubers lose their flavor and nutrients.
Frozen potatoes acquire a sweetish taste and are more like zucchini in consistency. Frozen fruits are often black inside and you cannot cook them. Carefully select the tubers in the store, and do not take soft potatoes - they will not last even three days. The tubers should be firm, even and free of stains.
As for varietal characteristics, potatoes can be non-boiled, mostly non-boiled and mealy boiled.
Non-scalding ideal for salads, frying, steaming. It is firm, dense, and retains its shape well when cooked.
Mostly non-boiled potatoes are slightly softer, but also good for side dishes. These potatoes are often yellow in color.
Powdered potatoes are great for soups, mashed potatoes, dumplings and pancakes. These are white potatoes, usually a late-ripening variety with a high content of ripened starch.
Potato storage.
The storage room for potato tubers should be dark, cool and well ventilated. Sunlight and dampness are contraindicated for this plant. In the sun, potatoes turn green and become unhealthy, and excessive moisture can contribute to rotting.
The temperature in the room where the potatoes are stored should be 3-4 degrees. If the temperature is lower, then the potatoes will freeze a little, but if the air is warmer, the tubers will sprout.
And in no case should you store potatoes in the refrigerator.
Cooking tricks.
To make potato dishes tasty and healthy, it's good to know some tricks.
You need to peel potatoes very delicately, and the point here is not at all about saving the product. It's just that all the nutrients and trace elements are located directly under the skin. And potatoes boiled in a peel are twice as useful as peeled ones.
The young tubers of the hostess are usually scraped with a knife, but you can simply sprinkle it with salt, wipe it well with a clean cloth and rinse. It is better to dip the young potatoes in boiling water.
For salads, potatoes are boiled in the skin, after selecting tubers of approximately the same size so that they are evenly boiled. To prevent the potatoes from falling apart during the cooking process, the water is well salted or vinegar is added to it. You can add both cucumber pickle and sauerkraut juice. The tubers will not be salted - excess salt will remain in the water, which you then drain. To clean the potatoes well after boiling, they need to be doused with cold water.
If the potatoes are peeled before boiling, they are immediately placed in cold water to prevent them from turning black. The tubers will cook faster if you put a tablespoon of margarine in the water. And if at the end of cooking dill, a couple of cloves of garlic and pepper are added to the pan, the potatoes will be very fragrant. Potatoes turn out to be extremely tasty if, immediately after draining the water, put a little butter in a container, crush a clove of garlic, cover the saucepan with a lid and shake well. The tubers, of course, will fall apart a little, but the taste will be amazing.
When you are making mashed potatoes, mash the potatoes hot, right after boiling. If, at the same time, whipped protein, butter and hot milk are added to the potatoes, then the mashed potatoes will turn out to be airy and tasty.
It is better to fry potatoes in a bowl with thick sides and bottom. Before dipping the sliced slices into the oil, it must be well heated over high heat, which is subsequently reduced. Drying the potatoes with a towel before frying will result in a crispy crust. Salt fried potatoes at the last stage of cooking.
Ash-baked potatoes are an integral part of gatherings in nature. The taste of scalding hot potatoes with a smoke is familiar to each of us since childhood. Potatoes prepared in this way retain almost all vitamins and are very useful.
You can make many first and second courses from potatoes, potato broths are used in the preparation of sauces and goulash, 200 g of potatoes will cover the daily dose of vitamin C, and its raw juice can even cure stomach diseases. Think before you remove this healthy and tasty tuber from your diet for the sake of fashion and a slim figure. After all, we get better not from the carbohydrates themselves, but from how much of them we consume.
