Now, let us praise the humble potato. It’s been long associated with Ireland – and negatively, too, because of the terrible failure of the crop prompting the Great Famine.
Irish potato consumption has been falling in the past decades, and the Irish appetite for the spud has been overtaken by consumers in Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
In 1965, the Irish ate 133 kilogrammes per head annually. In 1990, this was down to 126 kg and in 2021, to just 93.05. The dear little potato is being replaced by rice and pasta as substitute carbohydrates, or even fancier edibles such as quinoa. (I am told this is pronounced ‘keen-wah’.)
Yes, the potato has been stigmatised as fattening, and responsible for conditions like diabetes. But researchers at Harvard and Cambridge have now given their blessing to the spud, affirming that – with the important exception of chips (aka French fries) – the potato is a healthy food item.
Chips can contribute to the development of Type 2 diabetes, say the boffins, publishing in the British Medical Journal, but not the plain potato in more innocent form.
Love
I love the potato and I’ve been eating boiled new potatoes – Jersey royals being the most delicious – all summer. And naturally better with the skins on. The German treatment of cold potatoes – the kartoffelsalat – chopped up with mayonnaise, scallions, and mustard is perfect for leftover boiled spuds.
Despite the decline of potato consumption in Ireland – it has declined even more in Britain – famous chefs and gastronomes have a high regard for the tater. Joël Robuchon, the French ‘chef of the century’, had a recipe for mashed potato which allegedly drew customers from all over Europe. His method is now demonstrated on YouTube: boil the potatoes with cold water and salt, peel when hot, add butter and hot milk in equal parts, and mash. His disciple, Romain Avril, has a more complex twist, adding milk infused with garlic, thyme, rosemary and nutmeg to his Pommes Purées.
Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is now said to be one of the main causes of obesity and poor health: natural food is the remedy”
Other cooks add cream to the mixture. A skilled cook I know mashes the potatoes not in milk, but the water in which they were boiled – sometimes adding a touch of saffron.
Concoction
As a treat, I’m fond of the French concoction ‘Pommes de terres Dauphinoise’, in which sliced potatoes are enfolded with cream, butter, garlic and cheese. We can’t pretend it’s not rich, but it is a tasty example of what can be done with a potato dish. There are hundreds of ways to cook potatoes; cookery writer Lindsey Barham has produced recipes from all over the world in her paperback book In Praise of the Potato.
Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is now said to be one of the main causes of obesity and poor health: natural food is the remedy. The simple potato contains fibre, vitamin C, potassium, polyphenols and magnesium, and despite cost-of-living increases, it’s still cheap. Harvard and Cambridge have done well to recommend the spud.
***
Life on the land
A field of potatoes is the centrepiece of a new art exhibition just opened in London’s National Gallery.
The harvested tubers are in the foreground of the famous painting by Jean-François Millet, ‘The Angelus’, which is in the ‘Life on the Land’ exhibition by the French artist, showing at the London gallery until October 19.
‘The Angelus’ was painted between 1857 and 1859, and depicts a couple pausing in prayer as the evening Angelus bell rings. They have been toiling in the potato field, and a basket of potatoes lies at their feet. Their bowed heads show piety, but also the human connection with the earth.
Reproductions of this painting once hung in many a household; the Liverpool-Irish cultural historian Patrick Joyce considers it one of the most significant images of a way of life once common to Europe, and now gone.
When the painting went on sale in Paris in 1889, it was then the most expensive ever sold at auction, at over half a million francs. A subsequent purchaser, who purchased it for 750,000F bequeathed it to the Louvre.
***
My parents were married at University Church Dublin, a hundred years ago, on August 25, 1925. I find it awesome to reflect that a century has passed since Ma and Pa exchanged their marital vows at this elegant and graceful church. My mother always retained an affection for it, and in mid-century, Newman’s church had a reputation for interesting sermons. Facing St Stephen’s Green, it’s also located in a peacefully green environment.
University Church was also conveniently placed for sociable meetings after devotions. Having been inspired by a fine sermon, my mother recalled that some of the fashionable ladies of Dublin would repair for refreshments to the Shelbourne, the Royal Hibernian or the Russell hotel, the last two now gone.
And why not? Religious practice should have a sociable side!
The humble spud is back in fashion
Now, let us praise the humble potato. It’s been long associated with Ireland – and negatively, too, because of the terrible failure of the crop prompting the Great Famine.
Irish potato consumption has been falling in the past decades, and the Irish appetite for the spud has been overtaken by consumers in Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
In 1965, the Irish ate 133 kilogrammes per head annually. In 1990, this was down to 126 kg and in 2021, to just 93.05. The dear little potato is being replaced by rice and pasta as substitute carbohydrates, or even fancier edibles such as quinoa. (I am told this is pronounced ‘keen-wah’.)
Yes, the potato has been stigmatised as fattening, and responsible for conditions like diabetes. But researchers at Harvard and Cambridge have now given their blessing to the spud, affirming that – with the important exception of chips (aka French fries) – the potato is a healthy food item.
Chips can contribute to the development of Type 2 diabetes, say the boffins, publishing in the British Medical Journal, but not the plain potato in more innocent form.
Love
I love the potato and I’ve been eating boiled new potatoes – Jersey royals being the most delicious – all summer. And naturally better with the skins on. The German treatment of cold potatoes – the kartoffelsalat – chopped up with mayonnaise, scallions, and mustard is perfect for leftover boiled spuds.
Despite the decline of potato consumption in Ireland – it has declined even more in Britain – famous chefs and gastronomes have a high regard for the tater. Joël Robuchon, the French ‘chef of the century’, had a recipe for mashed potato which allegedly drew customers from all over Europe. His method is now demonstrated on YouTube: boil the potatoes with cold water and salt, peel when hot, add butter and hot milk in equal parts, and mash. His disciple, Romain Avril, has a more complex twist, adding milk infused with garlic, thyme, rosemary and nutmeg to his Pommes Purées.
Other cooks add cream to the mixture. A skilled cook I know mashes the potatoes not in milk, but the water in which they were boiled – sometimes adding a touch of saffron.
Concoction
As a treat, I’m fond of the French concoction ‘Pommes de terres Dauphinoise’, in which sliced potatoes are enfolded with cream, butter, garlic and cheese. We can’t pretend it’s not rich, but it is a tasty example of what can be done with a potato dish. There are hundreds of ways to cook potatoes; cookery writer Lindsey Barham has produced recipes from all over the world in her paperback book In Praise of the Potato.
Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is now said to be one of the main causes of obesity and poor health: natural food is the remedy. The simple potato contains fibre, vitamin C, potassium, polyphenols and magnesium, and despite cost-of-living increases, it’s still cheap. Harvard and Cambridge have done well to recommend the spud.
***
Life on the land
A field of potatoes is the centrepiece of a new art exhibition just opened in London’s National Gallery.
The harvested tubers are in the foreground of the famous painting by Jean-François Millet, ‘The Angelus’, which is in the ‘Life on the Land’ exhibition by the French artist, showing at the London gallery until October 19.
‘The Angelus’ was painted between 1857 and 1859, and depicts a couple pausing in prayer as the evening Angelus bell rings. They have been toiling in the potato field, and a basket of potatoes lies at their feet. Their bowed heads show piety, but also the human connection with the earth.
Reproductions of this painting once hung in many a household; the Liverpool-Irish cultural historian Patrick Joyce considers it one of the most significant images of a way of life once common to Europe, and now gone.
When the painting went on sale in Paris in 1889, it was then the most expensive ever sold at auction, at over half a million francs. A subsequent purchaser, who purchased it for 750,000F bequeathed it to the Louvre.
***
My parents were married at University Church Dublin, a hundred years ago, on August 25, 1925. I find it awesome to reflect that a century has passed since Ma and Pa exchanged their marital vows at this elegant and graceful church. My mother always retained an affection for it, and in mid-century, Newman’s church had a reputation for interesting sermons. Facing St Stephen’s Green, it’s also located in a peacefully green environment.
University Church was also conveniently placed for sociable meetings after devotions. Having been inspired by a fine sermon, my mother recalled that some of the fashionable ladies of Dublin would repair for refreshments to the Shelbourne, the Royal Hibernian or the Russell hotel, the last two now gone.
And why not? Religious practice should have a sociable side!
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