More Questions Answered: POTATO SUBSTITUTES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 169, 18 September 1942, Page 13

More Questions Answered: POTATO SUBSTITUTES

(Written for "The Listener" by DR.

MURIEL

BELL

Nutritionist to the

Department of Health)

UESTION: What _ suggestions would you make regarding foods to replace potatoes during the present shortage? Answer: There are several things to be considered in answering this question: the nutritional value of potatoes, their place as an accompaniment to meat and other dishes, and the available supply of other foods to replace them. ; As to their nutritional value, potatoes have many merits. They supply carbohydrates and thus provide us with fuel for muscular energy; if eaten in considerable quantities, they furnish us with an appreciable quota of vitamins B and C; they also contain minerals, particularly iron. Let us say frankly that there is no food which will quite take the place of the potato; we join our Irish brethren in a lament over this famine. The nearest we get to them in taste, to my mind, is roasted chestnuts, but I’m afraid we haven’t been diligent about planting chestnuts trees in New Zealand. Something From Both So we have to make the best of the shortage. Perhaps we can atone for the 4

loss of our beloved vegetable by selecing its two main nutritional virtuesits calorie-or energy-value, and its vitamin C. Let us say then, that we could replace it more or less by taking two groups of foods-those having energy-value, and those supplying vitamin C. Thus we could make a list of possibilities, as under, taking something from Group 1 and something from Group 2 each day, to make up the value of the potato. The ones that are starred can be served with meat-they may seem strange combinations at first, but perhaps we shall find some interest in adding variety to our menu. In this list, we have taken no account of the vitamin B and the iron we are losing; but we can make up for that by taking more wholemeal bread. Group I. * Kumera * Macaroni (bought * Bread or home-made) * Zweiback * Rice (if available) * Noodles * Lentil pie or bean * Yorkshire pud- loaf ding * Apples * Pease pudding More porridge * Maize-meal for breakfast fritters * Carrots, parsnips, * Corn pone beetroot * Scotch cakes * Kohl rabi; swedes

Group Il. * Cauliflower (Other foods listed * Green vegetables in "The New Zea- * Swedes land Listener’ for * Kohl rabi July 17.) * Sturmer apples You will observe that apples, swedes and kohl rabi are placed in both groups. Sturmer apples, you remember, have more vitamin C than other apples. They can be used raw for preference, but if they are quickly cooked, they retain enough of this vitamin to replace that lost by the missing potgto. Thus, half-a-cupful of stewed Sturmer apples has been found to supply the same amount of vitamin C (10 milligrams) as half-a-cupful of potato.