It's October already and I feel terrible that over three quarters of the year has slipped by without celebrating you know what. Come on, this is an event we all should be involved in. Family, friends, co-workers. Make some time for the potato.
2008 is the International Year of the Potato. So says the United Nations, and they ought to know. We pay how much to keep them running?
According to the official website http://www.potato2008.org/ (you'll love the logo) we owe everything to Lake Titticaca. Peru actually. There may be some argument from Bolivia. Those damn Bolivars. It's a potato.
I won't repeat the potato lore amply abundant on the web site but I do want to tell you about a neat little potato product called chuño. Dating back over a thousand years it's a freeze dried potato food eaten by the Incas. Small potatoes work best for this stuff. Once dug up they are laid out over night to freeze for at least a couple of days. They are laid out in the sun during the day and walked upon to squeeze out the moisture. Finally, they are frozen for a few more nights. And voila! a portable food that looks remarkably like crap. But hey, they did walk on it first.
And just so you feel real bad here are a few potato celebrations we all missed. In September the Spokane Valley Fest was the site of the launching of a potato shaped balloon. Thuringia Germany had their annual potato festival where the celebrated potato dumplings. And finally to cap a month choc a bloc with activities France hosted PotatoEurope 2008. Billed as Europe's "most significant potato industry convention". Lucky bastards.
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