1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: In Inca mythology, Aksumama, the potato goddess, is one of 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,120 Speaker 1: the daughters of Bacha Mama, the earth mother, and legend 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: has it when the ancient Andian people first encountered potatoes 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: growing seven thousand years ago, they took them to be 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: gifts from the gods. 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 2: Today's episode is all about you guessed it. 7 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: Potato potatoes. My name is Eva Longoria and I am 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: My de Gomez Racon and welcome to Hungry History, a 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: podcast that explores our past and present through food. 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: On every episode, we'll talk about the history of some 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 2: of our favorite dishes, ingredients, and beverages. 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: So make yourself at home. When our potatoes indigenous to Peru, yes, yes. 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 2: So we were focusing this whole season. We've been focusing 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 2: mainly on Mezzo Maria, but this time we thought, okay, 15 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 2: let's go, let's go a little further south and go 16 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: to Peru. So, first of all, the bay the word 17 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 2: baba is Getchua for a tuber. But the potato, the 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 2: first wild potatoes were harvested in the high altitude soils 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 2: in the Andes Mountains about eight thousand years ago. 20 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: So what do you do you plant that little sprout thingie. 21 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, So if you were to grow a potato, if 22 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 2: you you know, see an old potato, you know how 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: sometimes they have those things sprouting out of it. So 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 2: you could take the potato and cut them into sections 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 2: and then plant the potato basically in rows. And you 26 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 2: just take that piece of the potato and then you 27 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 2: plant it with that pointing upwards. You plant them about 28 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 2: a foot apart, and then in a few months you'll 29 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 2: have a ton of potatoes. 30 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: What. 31 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the craziest thing to grow. 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: It is high. Everybody grows tomatoes because it's so easy. 33 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: But I think I'm gonna try plant and potatoes. 34 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: It's supposed to be the easiest thing to grow. 35 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: Interesting, well, apparently they were to grow them in rows 36 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: because the inc and civilization grew thousands of different types 37 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: of potatoes and they were ranging in like different shapes, textures, colors, flavors, 38 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: some that we recognize today, but thousands of different types. 39 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: I feel like every time I go to the grocery 40 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: store there's like rustle and golden. 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 2: Like I know, there's not that many, there's like three 42 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,519 Speaker 2: or four different kinds, but still in Peru, the native plants, 43 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: these papas and nativas. There are still thousands of them 44 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 2: in Peru. 45 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: Wow. And the fact that they taste different is interesting, ink. 46 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 2: And rulers were ad ho their own gardens in order 47 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 2: to set a good example and to show that nobody 48 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 2: was so rich that they could afford to incite. The 49 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 2: poor and even the disabled who could not work the 50 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 2: soil for food were fed from public storehouses. 51 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: Wow. 52 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 2: Is that cool? 53 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: So cool? But you know, this all makes sense that 54 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: it comes from Peru and the Incing because if you 55 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: think about Peruvian food, they always have the potatoes in 56 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: the bottom of that rice. But it was the Incans 57 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: who were farmers in the Andes that attributed their success 58 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: of cultivating potatoes based on spiritual knowledge like the moon 59 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: and the mountain spirits and signals from the ancestors. And 60 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: so I think, you know, the farmers in the Andes 61 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: kind of attribute this successful cultivation of potatoes to spiritual knowledge. 62 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: Like I actually do think plants grow when they're happy 63 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: and when you talk to them. 64 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 2: Now, but I think that is so interesting, And I 65 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 2: think we touched upon this a little bit when we 66 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 2: talked about farmers and food justice and all of this. 67 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 2: You know, this whole concept of in mes America and 68 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 2: just pre colonial peoples. They were so connected to the land. 69 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 2: I mean, yes, they're attributing it to the Goddess of 70 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 2: Potato and the Earth Mother and the moon and all 71 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 2: of that, but really they knew what they were doing. 72 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: I mean, they were so connected to the earth and 73 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 2: the climate, and. 74 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 3: They were scientists really well, that's why I was it 75 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 3: was interesting to read that Bedu has almost an entirely 76 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 3: organic farming structure thanks to the work done by the 77 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 3: Incans thousands of years ago because they were they did 78 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 3: this insane. 79 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: Amount of research on farming practices. 80 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 2: It's insane. And I yeah, there's this one Andian agricultural 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 2: laboratory known as Morai, and this is this laboratory that 82 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 2: was developed by the ink And people, I mean, and 83 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 2: they cultivated new varieties of plants, not just potatoes, but 84 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 2: they're really known for the potatoes. And they also kept 85 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 2: seed banks. 86 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: Wow. 87 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 2: So this research that they were doing thousands of years 88 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 2: ago is still paying off today. 89 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: Wow. That is amazing, which is extraordinary. Yeah, And I 90 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: also find it interesting because I learned this in Wahaka 91 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: as well, with the mescal growers that are very similar, 92 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: but growers of papas nativas grow only what they need 93 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: to feed their own family. So for most of them, 94 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: it's not practical to produce these crops at a larger 95 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: scale because that's really labor intensive and like commercial pesticides 96 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: and fertilizers, So they mostly grow it for their community 97 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: and their families. Like mesca, well traditional mescalo, very very 98 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: traditional mescal, they only make enough for their community. 99 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 2: I think that's it some parts of Wohaka as well. 100 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 2: I think we see this with corn. They only grow 101 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 2: enough to feed themselves in their. 102 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: Family, which is you know, if we all did that, 103 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: we wouldn't need the big egg business that we have today. 104 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 2: We have to learn from the Incas and the Sappothanks. 105 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: We got to learn from, you know, the indigenous cultures 106 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: that had been doing it for thousands of years before 107 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: we came along and fucked it up. All right, let's 108 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: talk about well more, the Incan Potato Laboratory. It's incredible. 109 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: A lot of science going on when it comes to potatoes. 110 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 2: A lot, and this place is incredible. It's on my 111 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 2: bucket list of places so well. 112 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: I want to go to Peru. And now that I 113 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: know potatoes are from there, and this laboratories there, like, 114 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: let's go. 115 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 2: Let's go on a field. T I mean, this is 116 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 2: like incredible. So it's this ancient agricultural laboratory built by 117 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 2: the Incas in the Sacred Valley and it's seated at 118 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 2: over eleven thousand feet above sea level in a series 119 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 2: of these enormous concentric stone terraces. So if you imagine 120 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 2: a massive anphitheater with all of these terraces with different 121 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 2: soils at each levels, and the soils were imported from 122 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 2: different parts of the Andean region, so the Incas observe 123 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 2: the crops planted in each terrace, helping them determine which 124 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 2: varieties were best suited for the varying climate. It's unbelievable. 125 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 2: And they built this with limestone, and there are these 126 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 2: irrigation canals and they were growing thousands of different kinds 127 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 2: of potatoes and it's considered a temple to Batchamama, the 128 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 2: Earth Mother. 129 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: Wow. 130 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 2: The lowest and most insulated of these circles contains the 131 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 2: warmest temperature, and the higher that the terraces get, the 132 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 2: colder and colder that it gets. 133 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, yeah, I've never been to the Andes. So 134 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: the Indians were so advanced, and the fact that these 135 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: crops could withstand these harsh conditions of high mountainous areas 136 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: and give more yield, Like that's that, Like we can't 137 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: even do that today without really interfering with the seeds 138 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: and fertilizer and stuff like that. 139 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, totally, And it has around twenty different microclimates. Wow, 140 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 2: it's unbelievable at that altitude. It's like it's crazy, it's crazy. 141 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 2: It really goes to show how they had this ancient 142 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 2: understanding of the land and the climate that is still 143 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 2: present in Andean communities. And if you google this place, 144 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 2: it's so beautiful. It's just massive and just green, and 145 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 2: they were growing, you know, everything, And according to Alejandro Agumelo, 146 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:37,439 Speaker 2: the founder of Associacion and This, this laboratory has maintained 147 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 2: one of the highest diversities of native potatoes in the world. 148 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: Wow. They also did freeze drying back in the day, 149 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: and they knew how to freeze dry the potatoes to 150 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: you know, use as insurance against a bad harvest, and 151 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: they also sustain the ink and armies. But how they 152 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: did it was like they were soaked in icy waters 153 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: of the rivers and streams, then sun dried in the 154 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: harsh climate of the highlands and then left out in 155 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: the freezing air overnight, so then they could be stored 156 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: for up to a decade. And it was like what 157 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: they did freeze drying before it was popular. 158 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 2: And this sustained their armies. And in order to they 159 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 2: would just rehydrate them in water and then use them 160 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 2: in soups or in stews. And like how how Yeah, 161 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 2: they say that the name Murdai might come from these 162 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 2: types of freeze dried potatoes. 163 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: More on the history of the potatoes stay with us, 164 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: So let's talk about how the potato got to Europe 165 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: because they use it a lot. I mean, obviously colonization, 166 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: we know this, but like when how who? 167 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 2: Yeah? So eventually in the sixteenth century. So Peruz colonized 168 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,599 Speaker 2: in fift teen thirty two and Francisco Pisarro was the 169 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 2: man and he noticed this strange round object eating by 170 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: the indigenous population. So this new food, you know, spread 171 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 2: within you know, decades. It was used. You know, Spanish 172 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 2: farmers as far away as the Canary Islands were exporting 173 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 2: potatoes to France into the Netherlands. A Spanish conquistador named 174 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 2: Jimenez de Quesada. He encountered the potato in fifteen thirty 175 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 2: seven and what is now Colombia and described these potatoes 176 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 2: of good flavor as truffles. So like everything you know 177 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 2: that was from this New World, everybody saw it was 178 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:41,359 Speaker 2: with curiosity. 179 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: It was later introduced to Britain because Protestants wouldn't plant 180 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: them because they weren't mentioned in the Bible. I love that, 181 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: but Catholic Irish people do had qualms about it because 182 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: they would plant them on Good Friday and they would 183 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: sprinkle the potato seeds with holy water because it wasn't 184 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: because it wasn't a ved vegetable mentioned in the Bible. 185 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: Like what is that? That's so funny, That is so funny. 186 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 2: But you know, all of these European countries they were 187 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 2: they treated it with suspicion. I mean they you know, 188 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 2: sometimes like a lot of ingredients from the New World, 189 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 2: they were It was believed to be an aphrodisiac or 190 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 2: cause fever or leprosy. 191 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: They used potatoes to feed livestock in Northern Europe, and 192 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: it had such bad publicity that it didn't really what 193 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: reached mass appeal into the late eighteenth century. 194 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 2: Exactly until the late eighteenth century. And this man Antoine 195 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 2: Agustine Parmentier, who made the potato popular in France. And 196 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 2: around this time, around the eighteenth century, everybody was looking 197 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 2: at the French for their cuisine, right right, because we 198 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 2: still do as we do. It's true, we still do, 199 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 2: but this is when it started. Around the seventeenth eighteenth century. 200 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 2: The French were the ones to use butter and fresh 201 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 2: herbs and all of this. But he was super interesting. 202 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 2: So he was a pharmacist and you know, agronomist, and 203 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 2: he was in the army and Prussia during the Seven Years' 204 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 2: War and he was taking prisoner and kept in attention 205 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,319 Speaker 2: in what is now Hamburg, you know, Germany, and potatoes 206 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 2: were part of his diet. So when he came back 207 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 2: to France, he decided that he was going to change 208 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 2: this idea that potatoes were bad for you and the 209 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 2: potatoes caused leprosy, because that's what the French thought, you know, 210 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 2: about the potato, that it was the cause of leprosy. Yeah, 211 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 2: so he took the scholarly approach and he started writing it. 212 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 2: He wrote this treatise called Inquiry into Nourishing vegetables that 213 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 2: in times of necessity could substitute for ordinary food. 214 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 4: She's such a mouthful. 215 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 2: But he was also a showman, and this is what 216 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 2: is very cool. So he threw a famous all potato 217 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 2: dinner party in Paris, and the who's who of Paris came, 218 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 2: including Thomas Jefferson, who was living in Paris at the time. 219 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 2: He planted a forty acre potato field just outside of Paris, 220 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 2: and he posted guards all around this potato field so 221 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,959 Speaker 2: that people could think what was in there was really 222 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 2: valuable and worthy of stealing. This is like so crazy, 223 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 2: which of course they did. People stole the potato. And 224 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 2: then he gave Marie Antoinette, who loved to put flowers 225 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 2: in her hair, potato flowers to wear in her hair. 226 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,199 Speaker 2: All of a sudden, people were like, wait a minute. 227 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: It finally had a pr campaign. It's got a publicist. 228 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 4: He got a publicist. 229 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: This epocha, this era in Europe, during this time, and 230 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: famine was famine was constant, like I mean, so much 231 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,559 Speaker 1: poverty and destruction with all the wars and everything happening 232 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: in Europe at the time that once potatoes became a 233 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: staple routine, famine almost disappeared pretty much. 234 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's incredible. During in France, you know, 235 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 2: during the Revolution, Marie Antoinette's flower beds and the Tuileries 236 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 2: gardens were hoedown to plant potatoes. It became a potato field, 237 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 2: you know, when it became a staple. This lack of 238 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 2: genetic diversity because they didn't have the four thousand varieties 239 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 2: that they had in the Andes. They had you know, 240 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 2: one two. So this leads to this monoculture and these 241 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 2: limited varieties of potato become very vulnerable to disease. So 242 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 2: we see this in the Irish potato famine. 243 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, in the eighteen hundreds. Well, the potato is a 244 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: staple food in most parts of the world, and it's 245 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,119 Speaker 1: grown on every continent except Antarctica. 246 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 2: And scientists at Nasau have been testing growing potatoes on Mars. 247 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: Wow, from Bedu to Mars. Talk about that. That sounds crazy. 248 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: What do you mean, who's growing them? Who's on Mars? 249 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: We have people on Mars that I miss that. 250 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 2: We don't have people on Mars, but we have people 251 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 2: know what the Mars soil is like. The soil in 252 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 2: Mars is lacking in nitrogen and in some chemicals that 253 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 2: help plants grow. It also has very little oxygen. Well, 254 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 2: Mars has very little oxygen, and it's freezing. It's like 255 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 2: eighty degrees below fahrenheit. In twenty sixteen, a group of 256 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 2: Dutch scientists were growing ten different plants in dirt engineered 257 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 2: to mimic this harsh soil that I was just talking about. 258 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 2: Among them were tomatoes and peas, and in Limp, the 259 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 2: Centri Intern the International Potato Center, sprouted a potato in 260 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 2: this Mars like soil and taking soil from the desert 261 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 2: the Pampas la Joye dessert in Peru and planting tubers 262 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 2: that thrive in really salty soils. Basically to grow a 263 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 2: potato in this type of soil that is like lacking 264 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 2: in oxygen, lacking in nitrogen, lacking in chembicals, and it's 265 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 2: really incredible. 266 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: So these scientists are mimicking the surface and soil of 267 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: Mars to see what grows, and so far they've only 268 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: done potatoes, tomatoes, and peas. 269 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 2: Well. 270 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: I hope peas don't survive, because that is a vegetable 271 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: I do not like. I don't like peas, so I hope. 272 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: I'm so happy that the potato thrived in this testing. 273 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: I think the pieas did too, But that's so interesting. 274 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 2: I love peace, especially a bag of frozen peas. Oh 275 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 2: my god, they're perfect. After the break, we've got more 276 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 2: on the history of the potato. 277 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: When did the potato? When did the papa make its 278 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: way into Mexican dishes? Because it's it's important in a 279 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: lot of Mexican dishes. I love it in Mexican pigadio. 280 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: I love me too. I love beef and potatoes and 281 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: a tomato sauce. 282 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, me too. I love it in Piccaio. 283 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 2: You know, we see potato, we don't really see we 284 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 2: see sweet potato in Mexico, you know, pre conquest, we 285 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 2: see a lot of sweet potato. But it's a whole 286 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 2: other family. But now it is pretty much a staple 287 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 2: everywhere in the world. I love it in Piccado. I 288 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 2: love a good tacoa. 289 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: I love papas ala Mexiicana for breakfast, where it's like 290 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,919 Speaker 1: it has lapeni and onions, sometimes bell peppers. 291 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 2: Like a little breakfast pechio. Is that is that how 292 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 2: you mainly use a. 293 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: Potato in Mexican cooking? Yeah, yeah, it's always what about 294 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: in general, like in general, you know what's so funny, 295 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: I'm not. I grew up as a baked potato person. 296 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: My mom. Once the microwave was invented, which was my era. 297 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: By the way, one of the few things as an 298 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: example to cook quickly was in an egg, which is 299 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: horrible in the microwave, and a potato, and like instead 300 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,120 Speaker 1: of baking a potato for an hour, because they take 301 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: like an hour to bake, you know, it took seven minutes. 302 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: And so I grew up with a baked potato, and 303 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: especially in Texas, like the loaded baked potatoes with brisket 304 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: and cheese or chili or you know, we really load 305 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: them up. So that's how I grew up eating them, 306 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: and sometimes do I'll do a baked potato. Now I 307 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: usually do a baked sweet potato. If I'm going to 308 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: do me to side of some sort of potato or 309 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: some sort of starch, I will do the sweet potato. Yes, 310 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of I do like roasted 311 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: potatoes again from England with duck fat. So there's a hole. 312 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: There's a chef in Britain that taught me how to 313 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,399 Speaker 1: do those Sundays roast potatoes, which you gotta like boil, 314 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 1: then re roast and then roast and then dip them 315 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: all over duck fat and then put them back in 316 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,360 Speaker 1: the oven and they just come come out so mrisky 317 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: and just it's mostly the duck fat that I like 318 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:16,120 Speaker 1: more than the potato. 319 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 2: That sounds delicious. Decadent. Yeah, that sounds so decadent and delicious. 320 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 2: I make it like a non mayo because you know, 321 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 2: I hate mayo potato salad. Just like boil the potatoes 322 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 2: and then slice them and then dress them with like 323 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 2: lemon and olive oil and tons of fresh herbs garlic. 324 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 2: Make this sort of dressing with like garlic and anchovy 325 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 2: and lemon and olive oil and just put it all 326 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 2: over the potato. So that I love that I love, 327 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 2: and I love a good thatchoes that that goes that. 328 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 2: I remember growing up in Nova Loro, there was a 329 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 2: woman that used to make these corn thirty yes. But 330 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 2: instead of making it with water she would make she 331 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 2: would use the water that was that she would sort 332 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 2: of like rehydrate chili's I guess, and she would use 333 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 2: that red water for the thirty yas. So the thirty 334 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,120 Speaker 2: yas were red and they were a little bit smoky. 335 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 2: Fill them with mashed potatoes, close them up and deep 336 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 2: fry them. Oh they were I've never made them, but 337 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 2: I have this memory of these baccos the papa that 338 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 2: were incredible. 339 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: Wow. 340 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 2: What about tortilla papa. 341 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: I love tortilla potata like a Spanish tortilla. Yes that 342 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 1: I Actually it's a funny you say that, because I do. 343 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 1: I make that quite a lot. 344 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 2: I make it too, and I don't really I'm not 345 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 2: an egg. 346 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: Person, know, you're not fassin. I make it mostly potato. 347 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 2: I mean mostly potato, and the egg is really well 348 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 2: cooked like ata papa that's running. I can't deal with it. 349 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 2: But if it's really, like, really well cooked, I love it. 350 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 2: And sometimes I put toto in it. That is one 351 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 2: thing that I make often. 352 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: Actually. Wow, yeah, so funny you say that. I well, 353 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: And for intex Is we have breakfast tuckles and papabo 354 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 1: is one of my favorite breakfast tuckles potato and egg, 355 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: which is a version of the tortilla de patata. You 356 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,640 Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like it is potato egg, potato. 357 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 2: And egg just wrapped in a wrapped into the. 358 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: Wrapped in a flour tortilla as opposed to just like 359 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: a potato, egg omelet or or kische or it's very 360 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: it's so different but same. I don't know, but I 361 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: do love, you know, I'm a fan of the potato. 362 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: I gotta say, yeah. But here's the thing. French fries 363 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: are not French. They were invented in Belgium, according to legend, 364 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: and it was in sixteen eighty that the fried fish 365 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: loving inhabitants of this city of nay Moor had to 366 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: find something else to fry when when the local river froze. 367 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,200 Speaker 1: So but the word French refers to the method of cooking, 368 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: not its origins. Frenching is a way of cutting ingredients 369 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: evenly for even cooking. And so interestingly, the French weren't 370 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: the first to fry the potato. The Spaniards were, and 371 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: they didn't cut it in long strips. They cut it 372 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,719 Speaker 1: like in circles, like you have it in. So it 373 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: was technically the Spaniards who fried potatoes first, but it 374 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: was the French who made the fry shape first. 375 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 2: Oh interesting, I did not know that I met the 376 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 2: French hate that the Spanish did. 377 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: At first. The Spanish fried potatoes for they were the 378 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: first to fry potatoes apparently apparent allegedly. 379 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 2: Allegedly do you like French fries? Love? 380 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: I love French fries, honestly, French fries, Yeah, it's up there. 381 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: I don't obviously don't eat them a lot, and I'm 382 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: very picky about them. I really, honestly, anywhere in France 383 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: at a rest if you are at a restaurant, order 384 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: in French fries, steak, frites or whatever comes with your meal. 385 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: They're usually amazing, like they really, they really do it 386 00:22:59,040 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: the best. 387 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 2: They too, Yeah, steak freaks. That's one of my favorite things. 388 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. 389 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, potatoes. They're so versatile. 390 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: It's so versatile. I love it in soups. I love 391 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: it in my chicken noodle soup. I have to have 392 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: potato in my vegetable soup, in my minnestroni soup, in 393 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: my chicken noodle soup, I have to have a potato. 394 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,479 Speaker 1: It makes it so hearty and it just adopts whatever 395 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: broth you put into it. Well, it was really fun 396 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: exploring outside of Mexico for a minute, going down to Peru, 397 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: don't you think absolutely? 398 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 2: I was excited about this. 399 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know why because. 400 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 2: But of course we're talking about our Pietti Jos and 401 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 2: our that Goles. 402 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, we always have to bring it back 403 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: to meso America. But I am fascinated by Peruvian food. 404 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: I would love to do a Savica episode, a quinoa 405 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: you know, all what is that? It's not hominy. 406 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 2: But oh the chocolate, yes, the big the really big corn. 407 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, keenwa, oh my god. There's just so 408 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:05,479 Speaker 2: much import that. 409 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: I am such a fan. 410 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, hello, you know there's a whole there's a whole 411 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 2: episode right there. That's like we just usually mentioned like four. 412 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: Different exos exactly so much. 413 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 2: There's so much, but I'm glad we ventured a little 414 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 2: further south this time. It's fascinating. 415 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, endlessly fascinating, endlessly fascinating, And there's endless recipes with potatoes. 416 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to our potato episode. 417 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: Don't forget to subscribe, comment, rate us all of it. 418 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:37,439 Speaker 2: Thank you. 419 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: Hungry for History is an unbelievable entertainment production in partnership 420 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: with Iheart's my podcast network. 421 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 2: For more of your favorite shows, visit the iHeartRadio app, 422 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts 423 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: En