USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The humble potato was domesticated in the South American Andes some 8, 000 years ago and was only brought to Europe in the mid-1500s, from where it spread west and northwards, back to the Americas, and beyond.

Detailed explanation-2: -Originating from the highlands of the Andes, South America, potatoes were introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century. They were initially popular in Spain because they provided cheap sustenance for the poor.

Detailed explanation-3: -The ever-exploring Europeans brought the potato into North America in the 1620s when the British governor in the Bahamas made a special gift of them to the governor of Virginia. They spread slowly through the northern colonies, but had much of the same initial reception in North America as they did in Europe.

Detailed explanation-4: -Food historian Lois Ellen Frank calls potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, chili, cacao, and vanilla the “magic eight” ingredients that were found and used only in the Americas before 1492 and were taken via the Columbian Exchange back to the Old World, dramatically transforming the cuisine there.

Detailed explanation-5: -The earliest recorded trace of the spud was found in the Peruvian Andes at around 6000BC. Research implies that communities of hunters initially came to the South American continent 7000 years before harvesting wild potato plants. The plants sprouted around Lake Titicaca situated high up in the mountains.