Most botanists agree that the area having the greatest diversity of wild varieties of a certain plant is probably the center of origin. Which is why we believe the potato is a native of South America. Specifically, the Andean region. Many species of the tuberous plant can be found growing wild in Peru, Ecuador and Chile.

The name of the famous potato, the world’s number one vegetable is probably a corruption of the Indian name for the plant -- patata or papa.

When explorers first encountered Peruvian Indians they found them preserving potatoes by drying them in the sun. Something they still do today and something apparently, they have been doing for a very, very long time. Scientists believe the Peruvian Incas improved the wild potato of Peru, which is small and bitter, as it slowly gained importance in their diet.

Prehistoric caches of dried potatoes have been found. The dried potatoes could be pounded into flour, or reconstituted whole. It must have made a fairly thick and nutritious soup. An important crop that could be preserved from year to year, the potato, along with maize, was the underpinning of the great Incan civilization.

The white potato was unknown in Central or North America until after Pizarro conquered Peru and spread their potato culture via Spanish forts and ships. Sweet potatoes were used in the West Indies and Central America and in the Southern part of North America. They were referenced in the journals of Columbus and Magellan. They were called batatas.

The potato was brought to Ireland, in 1565, according to one story. Another has it that Sir Walter Raleigh first grew it there in 1585. Either way, it soon became a national mainstay in the Irish diet. The Irish introduced the potato to New England in 1719, when Irish immigrants settled at Londonderry, New Hampshire.

In Europe, a grain famine, in 1770, caused the potato to become an important crop. A French leader, Parmentier, set up soup kitchens serving potato soup to the starving masses. Today, in France, potato soup bears his name.

The potato helped change American history when in 1847--1848 a terrible famine struck Ireland due to the failure of the Irish potato crop. It is estimated 1,500,000 Irish people died, while another 1,000,000 emigrated, chiefly to the United States of America.

The new Irish-American citizens infused the growing industrialization of the North with cheap labor, and brought their music, culture and political ideaologies with them.

The Irish always stick up for the underdog. And it wasn’t long before the new American citizens had a chance to do just that in a very important Presidential election.

Between Lincoln and Douglas, Lincoln was considered the least likely to win. Douglas often made sneering disparaging remarks about Lincolns poverty stricken background. -- Something he shouldn’t have done within hearing of the likewise-stricken Irish.

The large Irish vote was a deciding factor in electing President Lincoln who as President, brought the Civil War to its ultimate culmination. An American war many Irish immigrants fought and died in. It was also a war that changed forever the future of America’s black citizens.

And, all due to a lowly tuberous vegetable growing wild, first found by prehistoric Indians living high in the Andean Mountains. The mysterious and amazing potato.