Meet Its Greatest Ally22 in Germany
The potato arrived in Germany in 1588 and was considered suitable only for livestock23 and prisoners until 1744 when King William ordered peasants to plant potatoes to save them from famine24.
It was in Germany， too， that the potato met its greatest ally. Antoine August Parmentier was a French chemist who served as a soldier in the Seven Years War25， and was fed only potatoes while in captivity26 there. When he returned to France， he made it his mission to popularize the tuber， which he felt had been unjustly rejected by his countrymen. A skillful public relations man， Parmentier published a thesis， "Inquiry into nourishing vegetables that at times of necessity could be substituted for ordinary food" in 1773， and soon afterwards brought a bouquet27 of potato flowers to the birthday party of King Louis XVI. Graciously accepting the gift， the King promptly placed the flower in his lapel28， and his wife， Queen Marie Antoinette， wore them in her hair， and potato flowers quickly became a fashion among the aristocracy.
Gain Status and Popularity in France
Parmentier， however， was on a roll29. He began throwing parties30 or the French upper-class， at which he served as many as 20 dishes at a time， all containing potatoes. Then， in a display of marketing genius， Parmentier obtained permission to plant an acre of potatoes in the French countryside. He had the plot fastidiously31 guarded by day， but at night left the land unsupervised. Acting exactly according to his predictions， the peasants assumed that anything watched so closely must be valuable， and they stole the plants by night. Soon， potatoes were being planted all over France. It became a staple food as well as a status symbol.
By 1813， the potato finally gained acceptance in Scotland， Holland， Austria， Switzerland， Germany and Italy. Thanks to the French， potatoes were finally deemed chic32 enough to eat. It was not long after this widespread embracing of the potato that some genius decided to drop slices of it into a pot of boiling fat. Today， French fries account for33 more than one-fourth of all potatoes sold in the U.S. market. The potato has come from being reviled34） to being revered35）， and is now the second most popular staple food in the world. So the next time someone says， “You want fries with that？”， take a moment to remember the long， hard journey of the poor little spud. And answer， “Yes， thank you.”
從一種南美的高原作物演變為麥當勞餐廳裏袋裝出售的炸薯條，土豆在這期間經曆了一段漫長而富有冒險意味的曆程。因為這平凡無奇又清白無辜的土豆，有人成了百萬富翁，更有數以百萬的人因為失去賴以果腹的土豆而丟了性命。下麵就讓我們來回顧一下土豆的曆史。
最初的伯樂——印加人
對生活在今天的我們來說，土豆是重要的主食，很難相信它作為食物被西方世界廣泛接納才不過隻有短短兩百年的曆史。我們的故事要從幾千年前的南美洲——確切地說，是秘魯、厄瓜多爾和智利北部——講起。在那裏，安第斯山脈的印加人最早發現了高原上的野生土豆，並早在公元前750年就開始種植土豆了。印加人除了將土豆作為主要的食物來源，還將它用於計量時間（譯者注：印加人把煮熟中等個頭的土豆所需的時間當做單位時間）、治療疾病、療養外傷以及求神占卜。他們最喜歡的土豆美食是這樣做的：把土豆鋪在地上曝曬幾個星期，然後光著腳踩踏土豆，直至土豆變成土豆糊。真是美味！