Welcome to Friday Food Reviews, where I will cover a different food or product each week and look at… what they are.  where do they grow, what can we substitute them for in a recipe, and are they safe to eat, store, use, cook, or anything connected to that food? or product..all the why’s and the wherefores…it will, of course, be mainly my own opinion or a known fact…good or bad…there may even be a tried and tested recipe…or three… I’m back as you know I have been on an extended holiday and then I had to settle back into my normal routine so I missed a few weeks but today I am back and looking at…Potatoes…

Why am I looking at potatoes well… because I was shocked to read that in the UK alone 710k tonnes of potatoes are wasted each year! In monetary terms that is 555m pounds worth of potatoes…

That is a horrendous figure, especially when every time I turn the news on or open a magazine the cost of living screams out from my screen or the page…fuel prices are going up and up, water is becoming scarce, pharmacists are saying about medicine shortages, prices in the supermarkets are going up as well as there being shortages with some products…the warning bells are ringing…plus I am bombarded on social media about all the starving children in the world and can we help…there is so much food inequality around the world…

And now we in the western world are facing shortages and price increases…where or when will it end?… I believe I need to act now to do everything I can to ensure that my family eats well …by changing what I cook where I can…to make the food stretch a little further but still be nutritious…

Let’s start with the Potato...the potato has been around in one guise or another for centuries…it was the Inca Indians in Peru who were the first to cultivate potatoes around 8,000 BC to 5,000 B.C. In 1536, Spanish Conquistadors in Peru discovered the flavours of the potato and transported them to Europe…the rest is history…roasted to a golden crispy brown outer with a buttery middle, mashed with cream or milk and butter, grated for rostis or made in crispy fries/chips, cooked in their jackets, cooked in their skins (think) the first of the crop of new potatoes there are so many ways to cook the humble potato…so why the waste?

The Basics!

Are we storing them correctly?... Potatoes need airflow but not moisture…store them in an open-topped bowl/basket or a paper bag.

Potatoes need to be stored in a cool dark place…I can find the dark place but not the cool here…unless it’s the fridge…the storage of potatoes in the fridge used to be a no-no although once you peel, cook or otherwise prepare your potatoes, they will have a much shorter shelf life in the fridge…but fresh potatoes I store in the fridge and they have a shelf life of 3-4 months no packaging required just leave on the shelf…this, of course, includes fresh sweet potatoes.

Parboiled potatoes can be frozen and if you have a few potatoes that are developing sprouts it s time to take action as long as your remove that part they are still safe to eat just parboil and freeze…then they are only one step away from lovely roasties or fries when required as they freeze very well for up to three months…

Muddy potatoes to extend their life only wash them when you are ready to use them as the mud protects the potato from the light please keep them away from the onions they don’t make for good bedfellows as they both release gases that cause the other to spoil quicker…

Potatoes are a good source of fibre, which can help you lose weight by keeping you full longer. Fibre can help prevent heart disease by keeping cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check. Potatoes are also full of antioxidants that work to prevent diseases and vitamins that help your body function properly….where we go wrong is by what we put in and on our potatoes…The best way to eat a potato is in its whole, unprocessed form. Baking a potato is the best way to prepare it, as baking, or microwaving, a potato causes the lowest amount of nutrients to be lost,

Time for some recipes…

Sweet Potato Recipes

CarolCooks2…In my kitchen…Mashed Potatoes…

I could of course bombard you with recipes for fries, potato skins, potato gratin, potato soup, Aloo Gobi, potato salad, Boulangere Potatoes, Rosti, Sweet Potato Scones that were my entry for International Scone Week and of course lovely crispy Sunday Roast Potatoes plus so many more…so please share your favourite potato recipe(s) …

The bottom line is there are no reasons on this earth why any potato waste should come out of our kitchens…we can make crispy potato chips from the peelings or do what my father did and mix them with bran and feed the chooks or compost them …not a potato should go in the general food waste if it does… next time serve smaller portions to those who waste it…

BUT 710k tonnes (555m pounds) or the global quantitative food waste for tubers is 45% per year…none of them makes good reading…we can do our bit and ensure we waste no potatoes…ever…

Did you know?

In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.

Let’s hope those space colonies learn from our mistakes and don’t waste a thing…if we get our act together nothing needs to be wasted…certainly not a potato…

Thank you for joining me today as always I look forward to your comments,,,see you tomorrow for Saturday Snippets…x