Español
February 16, 2025
by Eva Neisser Echenberg
The Spanish conquistadors came to the American continent in search of precious minerals, gold and silver. They found them. The conquistadors who represented the most powerful countries in Europe discovered an empire in South America, the Inca.
But the conquistadors gave little attention to the flora and the fauna of the Americas. They took specimens to Spain as curiosities. The most important plants that the Spanish brought to Europe includes corn, cocoa, tobacco, and, the potato: called "papa" in the Americas and "patata" in Spain. Today the Inca Empire has disappeared; Spain is no longer a global power; but American plants have conquered the world. Today the influence of the potato is more important than all the gold in Peru.
Until the early 1700s, Europeans would not eat potatoes. Some maintained it caused illnesses; others said it had aphrodisiac effects. But when they finally embraced it, it transformed the European continent. Thanks to the potato, there was plenty of food and people's health improved. Since potatoes contain vitamin C, several B vitamins, iron and have little fat, the population increased considerably. This increase in population is one of the factors that made the industrial revolution possible.
Potatoes had the major advantage of not being able to be trampled (like wheat) by invading armies. Potato consumption increased so dramatically that in Europe it became the main food for the poor.
Irish Potato Famine
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However, a diet so heavily dependent on one plant also causes problems. The most dramatic example was the Irish Potato Famine. In a country where the diet was based on potatoes, from 1845 until 1851, a blight (Phytophthora infestans) destroyed the potato crops causing a catastrophe: one million Irish died of hunger and another million had to emigrate, most going to the United States.
Today, in many poor countries potatoes are an inexpensive staple. And in rich countries no one appreciates potatoes. But if the world's population continues to increase, the potato will be a solution. It is very nutritious and can be planted almost anywhere in the world.
The potato is the fourth largest crop in the world, after wheat, corn and rice. The potato is much more adaptable than the other three products: it grows at high altitude areas, such as the Andes, and also at sea level; it grows where it is cold and where it is hot. It produces vodka and even car fuel. In North America, as well as in the European countries, there are few varieties, but in the Andes, there are 5,000 varieties in all colors and many shapes.
Van Gogh, Still Life with Potatoes
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At the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, scientists from around the world work to combat potato diseases and blights and to develop varieties appropriate to the world's different climates. Working towards the development of a potato seed is one of the Center's chief goals. Because potatoes are planted with small potatoes, called tubers, both transportation and quality control are difficult. A potato seed would reduce diseases, as well as the cost of material and transportation.
The importance of the potato is also reflected in the language. In Quechua, one of the languages of the indigenous people of the Andes, there are 1,000 words for potato. And in Spanish spoken in the Andean countries, there are many expressions that indicate its importance: "Being in the potatoes" (Estar en las papas) means to have money; "Not knowing potatoes" (No saber ni papa) means to know nothing; "To say potatoes" (Decir papas) means not to tell the truth; and in some Latin American countries the verb "papear" is synonymous with eating. None of these expressions, except perhaps the last one, are used in Mexico where corn is king.
The dishes prepared with potatoes vary from country to country. In Bolivia potatoes are eaten with cream, in Peru with chili peppers (ají) and lemon juice, and in Chile with pumpkins and fried rice.
Finally, there are potatoes art painting and poetry. Van Gogh's stark painting "The Potato Eaters" depicts the misery of those who subsided on one food.
Van Gogh, The Potato Eaters
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Pablo Neruda's Ode to the Potato is an angry poem that lashes out against the Spaniards and extols the merits of the indigenous peoples of the Americas:
