2008 will be the International Year of the Potato

Next year, the United Nations wants us to celebrate the humble potato for an entire year. I'm not certain how the UN makes its decisions about such things (why not the Year of the Tomato or the Year of the Turnip?), but I have no objections against the humble potato, one of my favorite foods. Unless you are an avowed anti-carb person, how could you not love the potato? As a matter of fact, I do wonder if someone at the UN came up with the Potato Year idea to combat the anti-potato sentiments in certain developed and weight-obsessed countries.

Potatoes are really the ultimate comfort food. For me they rank right up there with a bar of milk chocolate in the I-may-regret-it-later but boy-I-need-it category. The best bowl of comfort in the world is a creamy mound of mashed potatoes, which I've written about before. (I do however use a ricer now instead of a masher, for a lighter texture.) If I want a bit of texture or variation to the mash, I make it into a champ (add chopped up green onions that have been poached a bit in hot milk) or do something low-rent and add canned sweet corn and crisply fried bacon bits. Ahh, potatoes and bacon. What could be better.

Here is the official site for the International Year of the Potato, which has lots of educational facts, but inexplicably lacks any recipes. I want to know how they eat potatoes all over world, especially in the Andes where the spud originated! Let's hope they'll add some recipes when the Year officially kicks off.

Some other potato recipes on Just Hungry:

• Besides the mashed, I wrote about Rösti and Oven-fried potatoes.
• Pommes Anna - a ruinously rich, time consuming and delicious dish. Plus a variation with truffles.
• Nikujaga, stewed potatoes and meat - real Japanese home cooking!
• Japanese potato salad is the best potato salad.
• Shepherd's pie and a not very classic (but tasty) fish pie, both topped with mashed potatoes.
• Pae de queijo the very easy way, made with potato.