In the left panel portrait of Antoine Parmentier
The potato belongs to the large group of foods that arrived in Europe after the discovery of America.
But when, precisely, did it reach the tables of the Old Continent?
Late in reality, only in full 1700s , although its official entry had already occurred in 1570 .
It was then, in fact, that the potatoes, through ongoing commercial trafficking, landed for the first time in Spain.
This tuber with a banal and unpleasant appearance, however, served for a long time for healing and ornamental purposes (the plant was very pretty), but no one wanted to eat it.
Only in the 18th century, thanks to the French agronomist Antoine Parmentier (1756-1763), the potato was definitively cleared of customs and its extraordinary gastronomic and nutritional qualities were understood ( see also https://www.pilloledistoria.it/4569/storia-moderna/storia-cucina-nel-700-arrivano-patate).
Good and cheap, it became "the bread of the poor" , as Louis XVI called it.
In the beginning, in poor Ireland, potatoes saved the population from starvation ( Photo from :ici.radio-canada.ca).