Potatoes: What a Cook Needs to Know

So versatile, and such a perfect accompaniment to meat. Such comfortable food.

Despite what you might have heard, potatoes are not from Ireland. Scientists believe they come from the Lake Titicaca, Peru, area, at about 12,500 feet above sea level, where they were first cultivated by Inca Indians 8,000 years ago. The International Potato Center in Lima, founded in 1971, maintains the world's largest collection of potato seeds: More than 4,500. Spanish conquistadors brought them back to Europe in the 1500s and today they are the world's fouth most important food source, after wheat, corn, and rice, according to William Roca, a geneticist at the Center.

They grow underground, bulbous parts of the plant's roots called tubers. The flesh is usually white, but it can also be yellowish, purple, or even red. The skin is not only the familiar tan and brown, but red, purple, blue, pink with yellow spots, and yellow with pink spots, and it gets thicker with age. Loaded with starch and sugars, they get sweeter with age. The skin is usually edible if washed thoroughly.

Three categories of potatoes

For cooking purposes, potatoes can be divided into three categories:

Starchy potatoes. These are low in moisture and high in starch, and they are especially good for baking, mashing, frying, and roasting, but they are not very good for boiling because they can disintegrate if boiled too long. When they are cooked their texture is dry and floury. Most common is the Russet Burbank from Idaho. King Edward is another common variety. Yukon Gold is a popular example.

Waxy potatoes. These are good, all-purpose spuds because they have moderate moisture and starch. When boiled they get soft around the edges but hold their shape, making them especially good for potato salads and casseroles. Most red-skinned potatoes are waxy.

New potatoes. These are young spuds harvested in late winter and early spring. They are usually small, about golf ball size, thin skinned, and low in moisture and starch. They are best for boiling, skin and all. Many of the fingerling potatoes are new potatoes.

Buying potatoes

Try to buy potatoes individually rather than by the bag so you can inspect them. When selecting potatoes, try to pick those that are firm, without sprouts, and with no bruises, scars, or green patches. Greenish potatoes can have a mild toxin, solanine, but in such minute amounts there is nothing to worry about. To be safe, discard any potatoes that have green patches.

Storing potatoes

Potatoes should be stored in the cool and dark, but not frozen. Ideal storage temp is 40-45F at 95% humidity. Root cellars and crawl spaces are good. In the fridge the starches turn to sugar quicker, and the cold can also darken the meat. Potatoes and onions go together well on the dinner plate, but not in storage. They each emit a gas that can spoil the other. Put them in paper bags, not plastic bags. The need to breathe or they can rot.

Quality control. After you wash them or peel them, sniff them! If they smell moldy or musty, throw them out.

Recipes

Here are some classic potato recipes that demonstrates its versatility.

Potato Pancakes (latkes). The most perfect use of potatoes, better even than French fries and hash browns, are potato pancakes because they have the best of both and then some: Mahogany crunchy edges, crispy golden across the midsection, and tender, rich, meaty interiors.

Great Greek Potatoes. Picquant from lemon juice and aromatic from garlic and oregano, this is such a simple recipe you will be cooking it every night.

Blue Cheese Potatoes. So simple. So quick. So tasty. Why haven't you done this before?

Ultimate Garlic Mashed. None of that raw garlic harshness, we can teach you a trick to make it sweet and mellow.

Pesto Potatoes. You'll wonder why you've ever made any other potato recipe.

World's Easiest Potato Salad. Less is more says the old saw, and this recipe featuring olive oil proves it.

Mom's Potato Salad. Only better.