NOME MAKERS’ CORNER

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 5, 1 June 1948, Page 8

NOME MAKERS’ CORNER

BY “LYNETTE”

POTATOES The origin* of most vegetables are somewhat obscure, and their native habitat of en a subject for question, but compared to cabbage*, celery, parsnips, and indeed most of our vegetable*, the potato is a newcomer and its origin easily traced. Growing wild in Chili is the ancestor of our potatoes. Along with the sweet potato, the white variety was extensively cultivated on the American continent and it was near Quito that the Spaniards first tasted the ‘batiata, as it was called. Potatoes were first introduced to Europe towards the end of the sixteenth century. Some were grown on Sir Walter Raleigh’s estate near Cork in Ireland, and within 100 vears they had come to be the staphfood of the poverty-stricken Irish peasants. The nutritive value is very high and a diet of just potatoes and milk supplies all that i* necessary for the maintenance of life and health. The minerals and vitamins are most concentrated just under the skin, and tl is is the reason for dietitians’ praiscoi potatoes baked in their jackets. If the potatoes must he peeled, the thinner the peeling the higher the food value. and particularly is this so with new potatoes. At the present time we are being urged to eat more potatoes, partly because we have plenty and partly because there is a shortage of cereals. Any number of attractive dishes may be made with potatoes, and mashed they can even be as a substitute for flour.

Potato Loaf.—2 cups mashed potatoes, 2 sticks celery (chopped), 1 egg (beaten). 1-3 cup roasted peanuts (minced), 2 tablespoons grated onions, \ cup tomato pulp, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper. Mix all together and put into i greased dish. Brush over with melted butter, and bake in a moderate oven (330) for 23 minutes. Potato Puft.,-1* cups mashed potatoes, 1 egg yolk (slightly beaten), 1 egg white (stiffly beaten). 2 rashers bacon (finely cut), salt and pepper. Mix all together, adding the egg white last. Bake in a greased dish or individual moulds in a moderate oven. Potato Muffins.—l cup warm mashed potatoes, 1 cup cornflower, J teaspoon 'alt, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter. 1 egg, 1 tablespoon sugar. Sift dry ingredients, add mashed potatoes, butter, egg and milk Bake in gem irons or patty pans in a hot oven.