I smiled when I saw the February potato promotion in the photo at Sweet Tomatoes. I wondered what my late Irish father-in-law would have said about all the exotic potato recipes.
On his first visit over, I ordered some potato skins at a restaurant - and he was surprised we actually ate the skin of the potatoes in the US. Only with new potatoes, my mother-in-law explained.
Though you commonly associate the Irish with potatoes, they actually are not that creative in the ways they eat it. They do have some interesting dishes like Boxty and have recently let McDonald's Fries into their diet.
And while we may be creative in the ways we eat it, the average American eats less than a third as many potatoes as a person in Belarus. And they have 300 potato dishes. Worse, only a third of of our potato consumption is fresh. We eat way too many frozen fries and processed chips.
And as with everything else, China and India have become the biggest producers of potatoes. And are unleashing their own potato recipes into the world. Indeed, McDonald's burgers in India are meatless - the potato has taken over.
Check out this site for all kinds of trivia about potatoes.
BTW, Belarus also consumes plenty in liquid, Vodka form:)