Where Do French Fries Come From?
By 200 BC, potatoes had been farmed in Peru for at least 2,000 years. But the starchy tuber (a member of the Solanum family, which includes tomatoes and deadly nightshade) didn’t come to the attention of the West for another 1,700 years. In 1524, Spanish invaders landed in South America and found all kinds of new things to eat, including tomatoes, peanuts, cacao beans, hot peppers, and more. A journal entry by an anonymous member of a Spanish expedition in 1536 described potatoes being grown in the Andean village of Sorocota. You might not recognize those “original” potatoes today. They were dark and small – almost as small as unshelled peanuts. They looked like dried mushrooms. Still, they were abundant and nutritious. The Spanish were impressed. Potatoes were perfect for feeding the slaves in their silver mines. They were good for ships’ crews, too. And so the potato sailed to Europe. ‘Do you want Belgian fries with that?” That’s what you might be hearing at fast-food restaurants tod
French fries aren’t called “french fries” in France. They’re known there as poninws frites, “fried potatoes.” And the potato itself is known as the ponone de terre, or “earth apple”. The French term for french fries is more accurate than ours because french fries weren’t invented in France. They were first made in Florence, Ital
If you ask any of the grade four students from Mrs. MacTavish’s class at Kelsey school they will give you a detailed description of where they come from. On Wednesday, September 27th students harvested potatoes from a garden that Shawn Sexsmith, Manager of Kelsey Conservation District planted on Myles Scotts property west of The Pas. As part of Kelsey Conservation Districts education program students were bused out to the garden and learned that not all food originates from a grocery store. Potatoes were dug up, washed, cut into fries and deep fried in canola oil over a propane burner right on the spot. In addition to learning how a potato is converted into a French fry, students learned that canola is one of Manitoba’s biggest cash crops including crops produced in The Pas area. Next year Kelsey Conservation District plans to put green thumbs on as many students as possible by having them plant a garden that they can call their own and harvest their rewards soon after they return to s
Here is the history of the potato – from the don’t touch it because it is poisonous period to yes I will have fries with that. http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/9.2/fries/fri…
