2008 will be the International Year of the Potato

Next year, the United Nations wants us to celebrate the humble potato for an entire year. I'm not certain how the UN makes its decisions about such things (why not the Year of the Tomato or the Year of the Turnip?), but I have no objections against the humble potato, one of my favorite foods. Unless you are an avowed anti-carb person, how could you not love the potato? As a matter of fact, I do wonder if someone at the UN came up with the Potato Year idea to combat the anti-potato sentiments in certain developed and weight-obsessed countries.

Potatoes are really the ultimate comfort food. For me they rank right up there with a bar of milk chocolate in the I-may-regret-it-later but boy-I-need-it category. The best bowl of comfort in the world is a creamy mound of mashed potatoes, which I've written about before. (I do however use a ricer now instead of a masher, for a lighter texture.) If I want a bit of texture or variation to the mash, I make it into a champ (add chopped up green onions that have been poached a bit in hot milk) or do something low-rent and add canned sweet corn and crisply fried bacon bits. Ahh, potatoes and bacon. What could be better.

Here is the official site for the International Year of the Potato, which has lots of educational facts, but inexplicably lacks any recipes. I want to know how they eat potatoes all over world, especially in the Andes where the spud originated! Let's hope they'll add some recipes when the Year officially kicks off.

Some other potato recipes on Just Hungry:

Filed under:  vegetables potatoes food news

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Comments

The year of the potato! It is silly, but it reminds me that I have not cooked a potato all summer. I think it's time. I'd love to try your rosti and pommes anna recipes, or maybe a gratin.
My mom likes to make twice-baked potatoes for holidays. Basically bake the potato, cut it in half, scoop out the innards, mash 'em, put the mash back into the skins and top with cheese to bake a second time. Golden brown and delicious!

Heh, year of the potato...It's quite funny, makes me think of a food zodiac. It would be pretty funny if there was a year of the zuchinni or something next...