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POTATO FAST FACTS
IDAHO
Russet Burbank origins
Immortalized on Idaho license plates and adored by baked potato fans is the Russet Burbank, named for horticulturalist Luther Burbank who first noticed a chance seedling of the Early Rose potato in his 1872 New England garden. Needing money to move to California, Burbank sold the new spud variety for $150. A Colorado man later documented a mutant of a Burbank--the Russet Burbank. It tasted great. Idaho made it famous.
Missionary Spalding brings more than the Gospel
Presbyterian missionary Henry Spalding introduced potatoes to Idaho in 1836. After he taught the Nez Perce Indians to grow potatoes, the Nez Perce traded them for other goods with pioneers headed west. Idaho homesteaders grew them to sell to lead, gold, and silver miners flooding Idaho in the 1800s
Idaho Potatoes
The “Grown in Idaho” trade- mark application was filed with the U.S. Patent Office in 1955. Altitude, water, climate, and volcanic soil are credited with giving Idaho Potatoes that “best” taste.
French fries
President Thomas Jefferson served the first French fries in the United States at an 1802 White House dinner. World War II vets came home from Europe with a hunger for French fries, a big boost.
Top 5 Idaho Varieties planted in 2007
62% of potato acreage planted in Idaho is Russet Burbank
14.4% Ranger Russet
9.8% Russet Norkotah
2.8% Western Russet
1.7% Alturas Russet
Produced where?
Nearly one-third of all potatoes grown in the U.S. are grown in Idaho. Nearly every state produces potatoes, but about half of the commercial crop is grown in Idaho, Maine, California, and Washington. Most are harvested in the fall and can be stored up to 9 months before shipping to customers.
GENERAL
Best wines with potatoes
Vine to Wine radio host Linda Moran suggests: for baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, try Sauvignon Blanc. Add bacon and try an oaky Chardonnay. Potatoes with blue cheese work well with a fruity Pino Gris. With cheddar, try a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Four potato ancesters
While 742 potato varieties are cultivated globally, scientists at the USDA’sAgricultural Research Service (ARS) and the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru now conclude all fit under one of four species. Scientists recently used the outward appearance of a plant (morphology) and examined DNA molecular markers of the cultivated varieties and eight wild potato relatives to revise the number of potato species from seven to four. Most cultivated potatoes are of the Solanum tuberosum species.
Earliest potatoes
Incas domesticated and cultivated the potato for more than 2,000 years before Europeans arrived in the new world. Incas believed potatoes had power to heal ailments such as headaches, broken bones, skin diseases, and rheumatism.
U.S. No. 1 Grade Potato
First U.S. quality standards for potatoes were developed in 1917 to help potato marketers. The U.S. No. 1 grade is most common. “Size A” means potatoes must be at least 1.87 inches in diameter, and 40 percent of the potatoes in a bag must be 2.5 inches in diameter or 6 ounces in weight, or larger. If size is not designated, minimum size for U.S. No. 1 potatoes is 1.87 inches in diameter. There is no maximum size.
INTERNATIONAL
Czar Peter & Potatoes
Legend has it that Czar Peter the Great, on his voyage through western Europe in 1697, sent home Russia’s first bag of potatoes. But for more than a century afterwards, the new tuber was widely considered poisonous and shunned as “the devil’s apple.”
Russian potato consumption
Average Russian consumes a hearty 140 kg of potatoes. More than 90% of Russian potatoes are grown on houshold plots and private farms with average yeilds of 13 tons per hectar. As much as 4 million tonnes are lost annually to Colorado beetle, late blight, and viruses
Germany: From animal to human tables
Germans have grown the potato since the 1500s. Grown almost exclusively as animal feed for 200 years, it was after a severe famine in the 1770s that German monarchs—notably Frederick the Great of Prussia—promoted the Kartoffel as a staple food crop. Today Germany is the world’s sixth largest potato producer, the biggest in western Europe with just over 11 million tons in 2006.
Netherlands: Top certified seed potato producers
Today the Netherlands ranks among the world’s top 10 potato producers, with a harvest in 2006 of 6.5 million tons (similar to Idaho xxx). While potato production declines in most of Europe, the Dutch still plant almost 25 percent of their arable land (160,000 ha) with aardappel. They have achieved world record average yields of morethan 45 tons per hectar. The potato sector draws on some 250 approved varieties. The Netherlands is the world’s major supplier of certified seed potatoes, with exports of some 700,000 tons a year.
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