HN Explorer

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2Gkashmiri
why do i love potatoes so much? i once saw on nat geo or whatever that humans have been designed from millennia to expect a high carb energy from potatoes and that made them appealing.

the fried ones are even better but generally potatoes are those "least hated foods"

marginalia_nu
Potatoes are a new world crop though, so I don't see how anyone outside of indigenous americans would have millennia of exposure to potatoes.
devilbunny
Dense energy source that doesn't usually have a strong flavor on its own, keeps well, and grows in a wide variety of climates? There are plenty of starchy plants - plantains, other tubers, taro - but potatoes will grow in non-tropical climates, which is a big benefit (and was an even bigger one before fast refrigerated transport). They're also easier to harvest by hand in usable quantities than, say, grains.
ncmncm
The most important fact in TFA is that these were being eaten 11,000 years ago!

You are advised to cook them with clay to draw out the glycoalkaloid toxins.

I had thought potatoes entered the diet in Peru, but it appears these came first.