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Whether mashed, baked, or roasted, potatoes are an important food staple and the number one vegetable crop in the world -- even ahead of rice. Potatoes are available year-round because they are harvested somewhere every month of the year and they are stored effectively at cool temperatures.
The potato has siblings! Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillos belong to the nightshade family too! Potatoes are swollen portions of the underground stems, which are called tubers. If allowed to flower and bear fruit, the potato plant has an inedible fruit that resembles a tomato.
Unfortunately, most people eat potatoes as French fries or potato chips. Baked potatoes are loaded typically with fats such as butter, sour cream, melted cheese, and bacon bits. These are delicious, but such preparation makes potatoes into contributors to potential heart attacks. Without the extra fat, a baked potato is an exceptionally healthful low-calorie, high-fibre food that offers significant protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, potassium, manganese, and dietary fibre. Potatoes contain various phytonutrients that have antioxidant activity, as well as unique proteins that work against free radicals -- and that's a good thing!
Potatoes are not only nutritional but very inexpensive. Potatoes are often served with a variety of foods and have a mild flavor on their own, so they are compatible with almost anything. There are a many cooking methods when cooking potatoes: baking, boiling, braising, broasting, deep frying, pan frying, roasting, or steaming.
Chefs often use their creative flair to create beautiful dishes and it is the basic potato that starts the design on the plate.
Watch the video "Smash Your Mash" to learn how to properly mash potatoes, and then use the mash to create a beautifully-designed dish.
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