1. Different potato varieties have different sugar levels
Every potato variety has different sugar levels which make them cook differently and have different tastes. Varieties with high sugar levels end up with a gummy, sticky mess of mashed potatoes as compared to varieties with low sugar levels. The potato variety catalogue 2019 contains all the available varieties with their different matter content available on https://npck.org/catalogue/
2. When you buy them, potatoes are still alive
After harvesting, potato appears dormant yet it is still living. When stored in warm places with moisture, potato begins to sprout as evidence that it is still alive. This is the reason why they are supposed to be stored in cool and dry places.
3. Sweet potato is not actually potato!
Sweet potato is actually swollen roots and is not related in any way with the Irish potato.
4. Potatoes were the first vegetable to be grown in space.
Seed potatoes were first tested in space in 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
Columbia being launched to space. Seed potato production in space was first tested in October 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in its Microgravity Astroculture Laboratory. Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
5. China is currently experimenting with growing of potatoes in the moon! The potatoes were kept sent in a container together with arabidopsis seeds and silkworm eggs and sent to the surface of the Moon. “The eggs are expected to hatch into silkworms, which will produce carbon dioxide, while the potatoes and the seeds emit oxygen through photosynthesis. Together, they will establish a simple ecosystem on the Moon.
6. Potato crisps were invented by mistake.
The invention of crisps occurred after a passive aggressive move by a chef who made thick cut potatoes as a meal to his boss in New York. The boss was not a fun of such and so he sent them back to the kitchen where the chef got so irritated about it, sliced them into very thin portions, fried them in salty oil and turned them into crispy potatoes. The boss really enjoyed them and that was the genesis of crisps!
