Worship the potatoes!

 1. History of Potatoes How old are they? It is not possible to confirm the exact age from the year of birth, but potatoes in our country are 150 years old and potatoes in Europe are 400 years old. Any nation in the world has a long friendship with potatoes and its history is expected to continue. Also, the influence of potatoes on human history was as great as their friendship. It is very hard to believe that the Irish immigration to the United States, the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the urban working class are also scenes in the history of potatoes. 

2. Potato War ○ Potato War The war between Prussia and Austria in 1778 is called the Potato War. Soldiers from both countries took potatoes as prisoners before anything else in order to win the war by starving the soldiers of the other country.   ○ When Napoleon I and Napoleon's French controlled Europe (1789-1814). The poor island nation of England, which was unable to import, saw a severe shortage of wheat in its own country, and since then, the consumption of potatoes, which were so unpopular, gradually increased and became an important dietary tool for the British people.   ○ World War I and World War II potatoes became important after two world wars. Potatoes filled soldiers' stomachs with five times more yields than wheat grown in the same area, especially Russian scientists, who were busy protecting South American potato seeds from cold and mice day and night during the war, and believed they would give Russia a victory. In Russia at the time, potato seeds were more important than gold, and are still called "the second bread." 

3. Western history of potatoes ○ Potatoes originated from potatoes have been growing in Peru and Chile in South America, with the Andes at the center for 13,000 years. In this way, in prehistoric times, someone selected and planted a root species called Solanum stenotomum on an altitude of about 4,000m above sea level, which will be the first potato cultivation in mankind. From this, a species called Solanumphureja was born by mutation or selection. Potatoes grown only in South America, mainly in the Andes, were introduced into the Old World with gold and silver jewelry around 1560, when the Inca Empire was destroyed by the Spanish. However, after the introduction of potatoes, England and Italy. Until the 18th century, when potatoes began to be widely distributed in Europe, such as Germany and France, potatoes had to endure rough times. The potatoes, which took their first steps in Europe, could have provided enormous food in narrow arable land and barren soil, and could have been a countermeasure against famine for farmers who lacked land. The only farming tools needed were shovels, and wage earners and city workers could have cultivated potatoes in their gardens. Potatoes would have provided Europeans with nutrients that they could not eat with other foods if they only supplemented calcium, vitamin A, and D with milk and dairy products. In addition, potatoes could be cooked inexpensively and quickly without fuel or kitchen utensils, so they were especially compatible with lower-class kitchens. However, it is ironic that these features of potatoes were rather a barrier to supply. That is because potatoes are known as food for the poor. Not only is it ugly in itself that it looks strange and ugly, but the black potatoes growing under the ground were simply objects of vigilance. There is still a kind of class prejudice against potato eaters, and the word "potato head" in English means a jerk. In France, lazy people are said to have "potato blood," and people who are not good at work are said to have "potato bags dancing." It even refers to "slavery" by referring to potatoes. These comments are 400 years old and show that early potatoes were introduced to Europe.   ○ Sweet potatoes, well known as the representative hardy plants along with sweet potato potatoes, are common in that they are a mecca and vine plant and grow underground. However, unlike potatoes introduced to Europe through many obstacles, sweet potatoes were introduced to Spain soon after Columbus discovered the island of Haiti. Fernando II and Isabel I of Spain liked sweet potatoes and grew them in the garden of the palace, and Henry VIII even thought the plant had the most negative component. There were social reasons why Spain chose sweet potatoes. First of all, sweet potatoes were enough to appeal to people from that origin. Sweet potatoes were introduced from scenic Caribbean islands and the Isthmus of Latin America, while potatoes were, according to Spanish chroniclers, a plant growing in barren land in the Andean Plateau, where yellowness reached its peak. Sweet potatoes added a kind of dignity to the eater because they were rare and expensive. At that time, sweet favorite foods such as vanilla and chocolate were just popular in the 16th century, and Henry VIII enjoyed eating sweet potatoes and sweet pies with plenty of seasoning. However, no one was willing to support or defend Andean potatoes, and their utility was not recognized. It was not easy to break the stereotype because Andean potatoes were introduced into Europe by the Spanish under the deadly sentence of "food for the humble."   ○ In the face of the Industrial Revolution and the Potato Industrial Revolution, Britain's lifestyle was getting faster and faster. The 680 km from Edinburgh to London took 10 days in 1754, but it took four days in 1776, and was shortened to three days in 1786. The UK population explosion was also in full swing. The population was 5 million in 1700. It was exploding to 5.7 million in 1750, and again to 8.7 million in 1800, where population concentration began. More food had to be transported to major cities because of population growth and population concentration. In the meantime, Britain, which had persistently refused, was no longer able to refuse to accept capital cuts. Although potatoes were bulky and difficult to handle and expensive, they had more advantages than that. In other words, potatoes could be grown on almost any land and sold in nearby areas, so there was no need to transport them over long distances. Furthermore, potatoes did not need to be milled like wheat, which reduced costs. The areas that make the most of these advantages are northwestern England, centered in Lancashire and Cheshire. Due to Lancashire's humid and mild climate, fertile soil, and small land leases, potatoes were encouraged to be widely grown. As the population flocked to many factories and mines in the city, more food was needed, and as transportation such as canals developed, potatoes became more popular. Potatoes were even said to be the food of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and elsewhere.   Origin of ○ Potato Chips In the early 1850s, a chef named George Crum worked at the Vandal Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York, whose wild duck cuisine was simply art. One day, a picky customer complained that the potatoes were too thick, and Crum, who was very proud, decided to give him a hard time. He sliced potatoes as thin as he could, fried them in oil, and dripped them with salt. Surprisingly, however, the customer enjoyed the dish so much. This is how potato chips were born. As cheap cooking oil began to be produced in large quantities, French fries led to a kind of food revolution. Potato chips moved away from the home kitchen and entered restaurants and grocery stores. However, potato chips were a labor-intensive item, so factories began to produce them in large quantities by machines. 

4. According to Lee Gyu-kyung's "Oju Yeonmunjangjeonsango" in Korea, it was introduced from the Manchuria Gando region in 1824, and the introduction of the Kim family name in Myeongcheon brought seeds from the north and planted ginseng secretly in the ginseng field. Full-scale cultivation began around 1890, in Pyeongan-do, Hamgyeong-do, and Gangwon-do, and when the highland agricultural test site was established in Daegwallyeong in 1961, Korea's potato business was promoted in depth. It took almost 200 years for potatoes to be introduced and settled in Europe. The biggest taboo was that potatoes were repulsed because they opened in black ground. But how did potatoes settle in our country in a very short time? We were much more familiar with root plants. It is often said that when there is a bad harvest, they live with "hypermuscular bark." Pine needles and elm bark juice are cited as representative dried yellow foods. In addition, there are acorns, arrowroot, hemp, roundle, turnip, and mugwort. There was no taboo on root plants as food early on. Taro, in particular, is almost a potato-like form. Potatoes were able to enter our taste tamed by taro and hemp without any resistance. And because it was better and easier to grow than them in texture and taste, it began to occupy every corner of our table. At first, it would have been a substitute for stocks, but now it is firmly positioned everywhere, including stews, stews, and fries. For just over a hundred years, it has become indispensable.