Earth apple. Many hear such a definition for the first time, and no wonder! In fact, we are not talking about a fruit at all, which is an apple, but about the most popular vegetable that is found almost daily on our table - tuber nightshade! What, again do not understand what is at stake? Well, we won’t confuse you anymore, but on the contrary, we will try to give the most detailed answer to your question: “An earthen apple - what is it?” It's nothing but potatoes! Yes, you heard right, potatoes.
And why not, judge for yourself, by the time of harvesting, the aerial part of the plant dries out and becomes slightly similar to the root, and what is in the ground can easily be compared with the crown of an apple tree strewn with apples - small or large.
The history of potatoes
Potato as a wild plant arose a very long time ago. The plant is native to South America. It was there that about 7 thousand years ago they began to grow the earthen apple as a crop, initially using wild thickets for this purpose.
On the territory of modern Bolivia, local Indian tribes do notthey only grew potatoes and ate them, but they also worshiped him, considering him a spiritual being that could prolong their lives.
Potatoes in Europe
In Europe, or rather in Spain, potato tubers first came in 1551. They were brought by the Spanish geographer Cieza de Leon, who was coming from Peru. And already in 1573 there is a historically verified fact that potatoes were present among other products when purchasing products for the Jesus Blood Hospital.
Further, the culture began to actively spread through the territories of Italy, Germany, Belgium, France. At the same time, potatoes were initially perceived as an ornamental plant with poisonous properties.
Earth apples: first appearance in Russia
The history of the appearance of potatoes in Russia begins at the end of the 17th century. It was then that Peter I sent the first bag of potato tubers to his homeland for distribution to the provinces, in order to grow and further eat.
But the culture did not receive mass distribution throughout the entire 18th century, due to the fairly frequent cases of poisoning by the fruits of the "devil's apple" (as the peasants called potatoes). After all, at that time people did not yet have sufficient knowledge about the properties and components of potatoes.
Few understood that only root crops should be eaten, and mistakenly ate berries - fruits that appear after flowering. Already with experience, mankind has determined that it is in the berries and tops that a life-threatening element is contained - corned beef. He isis also formed in the roots of harvested potatoes, which are exposed to sunlight for a long time.
Dangerous to eat root crops can be determined by visual inspection for the presence of green areas and reject the whole root crop or cut off a piece of it. But since ignorance breeds fear, it was precisely this that repelled people from cultivating this crop.
In the middle of the 18th century, the first article was published with the title "On the cultivation of earthen apples." It described in detail the methods of cultivating potatoes. Articles about their research and conclusions about culture were also published by the scientist A. T. Bolotov and the statesman Sivers Ya. E. But all this did not save the country from the periodic occurrence of the so-called "potato riots", due to the people's fear of culture. People did not understand why they needed an earthen apple, what it was. They were afraid that these root vegetables would at least spoil their stomachs.
But due to the "potato revolution" carried out during the time of Nicholas I, potatoes began to be considered a "second bread".
How earthen apples became potatoes
Now you know what was called an earth apple. But why is this vegetable now called a potato? The etymology of the word "potato" has gone an interesting way.
The origins say it was originally called kartoffel in Germany. This word was taken from the colloquial phrase: sich die kartoffeln von unten anschauen, which literally means "to lie in the grave". As you can see, people have seenfrom my own experience that root vegetables cause food poisoning and therefore can be fatal.
Some believe that the original source of the name is the Italians, who called the potato tartufo, a derivative of the word "truffle". By external signs, potatoes can really be compared with a truffle just mined from the ground.
How they call an earthen apple, or potato, in different languages
At the moment, potatoes are distributed all over the world. This culture is unpretentious to climatic conditions and grows quite well in any soil, so it is grown on almost all continents of our planet. The difference can only be found in the varieties and, of course, the names of the culture in different languages of the world.
Earth apples: photos and facts
And finally, here are some interesting facts related to potatoes:
There is an unusual plant called tomato. Its originality is that in the aerial part it has fruits - tomatoes, and potatoes grow on the roots
- There is a museum dedicated to potatoes in Belgium. It presents thousands of exhibits that tell about the history of cultivation and the formation of this culture.
- In Russia, namely in the city of Mariinsk, there is a monument to Potato.
- What do the French still call the earth apple? Banal potatoes! At the moment, the combination "earth apple" is still found in this country. Evensometimes you can read something like "ground apple puree" on a restaurant menu. Spicy, isn't it? Surely lovers of extraordinary taste sensations would “bought” and tasted such an original dish!
- Potatoes are widely used to make food and "technical" starch for baby powders.
- At the stage of the emergence of potatoes in our country, the nobles preferred to grow potatoes in pots as an ornamental plant. The presence of a potato flower in a lady's hair was also considered a sign of exceptional taste at social events.
- The use of "earth apple" in home cosmetology is not only financially justified, but also effective. Homemade masks, compresses and folk remedies for various kinds of skin problems can all be prepared using potato root vegetables.
- At the moment, there are about 5 thousand varieties of potatoes.
