What is the history of mashed potatoes?

1. STAFF

   Matt Wellsposted 12 years ago

   What is the history of mashed potatoes?
   
   Mashed potatoes are a very popular side dish. What is the history of mashed potatoes? What country did they originate from? Who invented them? What year were they first prepared?

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2. 92

   Docmoposted 12 years ago

   The humble potato entered into Europe in the 16th century, brought over from the slopes of Andes by the conquering Spanish. It was gradually adopted by European farmers and soon became a staple crop. Its sheer starchiness and carbohydrate content made it cheap nutrition and its pernnial nature helped farmers feed their families and sell them on too.
   It is said that French physician Antoine Parmentier ( who studied the potato and its potential intensely and published 'Examen chymique des pommes de terres' in 1774) ran a competition for various recipes using the potato. He then went on to win it apparently ( the cheek!) with his recipe for mashed potato. The sumptuous combination of silky boiled potato, mashed with  butter, double cream, a dashing of salt and some garlic was an instant hit. It's no wonder it has survived centuries as a delicious accompaniment. People started adding and augmenting the recipe. I do love some bacon bits, some pepper thrown into the mix. yummmm.

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      By His Wayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Nah, you know how it goes. He probably just forgot about some potatoes he was testing in boiling water and voila.

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   2. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the information!

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3. 61

   By His Wayposted 12 years ago

   Ah, the great white non-plaguish starch and it's non-Irish roots.
   
   It had been around the block a few times before it ever got to the place most of us think potatoes come from - Ireland. At least that's where I've always thought they originated. 
   
   The potato is actually recorded to have been first found in South America. I know, right?  With it being so white, who knew it was Latin!  Aye! Yie! yie!  But yeah, the Spanish (of course, who else..) packed some on board to take home. They were great at spreading stuff around.
   
   
   It was also thought to be poisonous at different times, but more than likely that fear came from that one tribe that would grab a bite after it had set out on the deer skin overnight. Wrapped in rainforest leaves, heated, cooled and eaten...botulism never tasted so good. I say non-plaguish though because I was shocked to find out that there is a record of a million or so deaths in Ireland in the mid 1800's due to potatoes - LACK OF. Now I can say with confidence that carb diets are joyfully WRONG. There ARE positive qualities to this spud.
   
   Oh, and as for mashed potatoes?  With this kind of scandalous background, who cares. Potatoes mashed was probably just an accident meal anyways.

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   Lynn S. Murphyposted 12 years ago

   I'm thinking that someone screwed up like I have and boiled them WAY TOO LONG and ended up with mush, threw in some butter, salt, milk and called it a day. Not that this has happened to me while trying to make potato salad. lmao.....

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   mrpooperposted 12 years ago

   Many years ago the sweet potato and the baked potato were at war. Man got involved ans mashed both potatoes into submission. There has been peace ever since.

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6. 48

   robin knows bestposted 10 years ago

   Easy. The dude was testing the potatoes then tried to picked them up and they dropped hard and they got mashed. He add butter and salt and milk then BOOM

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7. 92

   StoneCircleposted 9 years ago

   It all began on a reality show in the 1800's. They were given a potato and a cow and asked to create a new food. It some thining out of the box, but one contestant created butter from milk, and boiled the potato in the left over whey. Due to the mushy texture, they added butter to the mix and voila!, Mashed potatoes.

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8. 73

   frogyfishposted 9 years ago

   Well, Matt, it has been a long time coming, but I just couldn't resist this answer for you today.
   That history began when my MIL discovered I had thrown a small warmish boiled-new-potato at a huge spider on the ceiling:  It sorta smashed as it hit, then it really smashed as it hit the floor.  (By the way, I did miss the spider.) 
   The dog liked it so much MIL started smashing them in the pot!  :-)

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   The Examiner-1posted 8 years ago

   I just heard that eating potatoes of any type - mashed, solid, fries, etc, all except chips - cause blood pressure to raise.

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10. 47

    hema67posted 8 years ago

    Mashed potato is a dish prepared by mashing boiled potatoes. Recipes started appearing no later than 1747 with an entry in The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse. Dehydrated and frozen mashed potatoes are available in many supermarkets.
    http://www.rationaltechnologies.com/

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    Terrielynn1posted 7 years ago

    It was a dance we did in the 80s. LOL

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12. 75

    Nancy Owensposted 7 years ago

    My guess is that the prehistoric housewives got tired of eating and finding ways to fix raw tubers straight out of the ground. At some point, somebody figured out how to start a fire, and somebody else figured out how to make a water tight vessel that wouldn't break in extreme heat, and presto! Boiled food was the new cuisine. It was discovered shortly thereafter, that if you boil the potato too long, it mashes itself, when you stir it, and the mashed potato was born.

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