Potatoes are a source of energy, protein, as well as vitamins and minerals. Potatoes are perfect for both a quick dinner and a gourmet snack. Potatoes also have healing properties - the potato diet is recommended for kidney failure. A potato mask will improve the appearance of a tired and dull complexion.
Potatoes - what to choose
To prepare a tasty and he althy potato dish, you need to pay attention to thepotato varietyyou are buying.Potatoesare divided into hard (type A), keeping the form - these are best for salads,potatoesfried and shelled and grilled, and medium-hard (type B), which at the end of cooking becomes brittle, while frying, soft inside and crunchy on the outside - they make great fries or pancakes, water and soup potatoes (but not cream-soup). The last type is flour, easily disintegrating potatoes (type C), perfect for cakes, stuffing, noodles or purées or for thickening soups.
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The appearance of the tubers is also important: whether they are not damaged, diseased or rotten. These signs could indicate that the potatoes will go bad quickly. The skin of the tubers should be smooth and the flesh of a homogeneous color.
Don't forget about the "eyes". Shallow ones are better due to the smaller loss of vitamins and minerals during peeling - in this respect they stand out from the varieties:
- early - Drop, Augusta, Ewelina, Gracja, Velox, Impala, Korona
- medium early - Ditta, Żagiel
- medium late - Fianna, Mermaid
- late - Medea.
Culinary types of potatoes
- A - with high humidity and low starch content (for salad dressing); varieties: Accent, Albina, Cykada, Frezja, Vineta
- B - medium firm, non-crumbling flesh (universal, perfect for stewing and cooking); varieties: Albina, Aksamitka, Ania, Atol, Balbina, Baszta, Beata, Bila, Danusia, Drop, Fala, Felsina, Fresco, Gloria, Irga, Irys, Jagna, Jagoda, Jasmine, Kolia, Latona, Lotos, Malwa, Maryna, Mors, Muza, Oda, Orlik, Orłan, Grebe, Ruta, Tern, Rywal, Sante, Signal, Sumak, Tara, Timate, Tokaj, Triada, Vital, Wawrzyn, Wigry,Wiking, Wolfram
- C - containing more starch, with light and loose flesh (for pancakes, dumplings); varieties: Anielka, Arkadia, Aster, Barycz, Bryza, Ibis, Karlena, Koral, Kos, Lena, Mila, S alto
- D - fodder
Do not be afraid of shopping in hypermarkets, sellers at the market are not always able to say what variety they offer, limiting themselves to saying that they are, for example, tasty and loose. In hypermarkets, you will learn from the packaging what kind of potato it is and where it comes from (country or even a farm). Also, make sure that the potatoes you buy are fresh. They are often not very firm and green, which is a signal that they have been stored poorly. Green color means increased solanine content. This alkaloid does not break down during cooking and can cause food poisoning (avoid it by peeling potatoes roughly).
Potato varieties
There are 135 varieties of potatoes registered in Poland (100 edible and 35 starchy), including 51 from abroad. The most delicious are Mile, Breeze, Maryna, Aster, Iris and Irga. Many people also appreciate the taste of white Alma. Central and eastern Poland is dominated by Irys and Irga, hard potatoes with white-cream flesh. In turn, the vicinity of Poznań is the land of Mile and Bryza, potatoes that are more floury, softer with a yellowish flesh color.
Potatoes - nutritional value
Potassium is the most valuable in potatoes - to keep as much of it as possible, put the tubers in a little boiling water (it should barely cover them) and s alt them. They are also a valuable source of: sodium, magnesium, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus, fluorine, chlorine, iodine, carotene, vitamins K, B1 , B2 , B6and C (from 11-16 mg / 100 g, depending on the season), as well as biotin, fructose, sucrose, starch and nicotinic acids and pantothenic.
The most nutrient-rich part of the potato (proteins, carbohydrates and minerals) is the layer just below the cortex and primary bark, i.e. the primary crumb. This is why potatoes should be peeled sparingly, preferably not at all.
Unfortunately, it is a myth that you can protect vitamin C. Boiled potatoes in the pre-harvest season contain as much as nothing. It decomposes not only during storage and cooking, but also when exposed to air and sunlight, when you peel and cut it.
Potatoes lose the most minerals when they are cut and stored in water. Therefore, if you have to peel them beforehand, put them in a pot with cold water and slice them only before cooking.
Most nutritionally valuablepotatoes are steamed or shelled or baked, and the least - mashed potatoes and fried the day after cooking.
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Author: Time S.A
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Find out moreTry it outPotato diet (sample menu)
I breakfastPotatoes baked with butter and sprinkled with sage, dill, parsley or other favorite herbs (potatoes 200 g, butter 20 g), medium tomato without peel, tea with lemon and a teaspoon of sugarII breakfastSeasonal fruit jellyDinnerBaked potato wedges (300 g potatoes, a tablespoon of oil, spices), cauliflower purée with a tablespoon of butter , drinking waterAfternoon teaPotato and apple salad (potatoes 200 g, an apple, 0.5 onions, a teaspoon of oil)DinnerPrune dumplings poured with with butter, mint tea sweetened with sugar
Potatoes - healing properties
- Raw tuber juice helps in the treatment of heartburn, acidosis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer and constipation.
- Grated raw potatoes soothe burns, skin cracks, smooth wrinkles and tighten the skin.
- A decoction of boiled tubers helps with cracking skin on heels and hands.
- Boiled and mashed potatoes is an excellent mask for tired and sallow skin.
- Potato gruel has a softening, antifungal and antibacterial effect on the skin.
- Potato meal kissels serve as a protective agent for the gastric mucosa (in poisoning).
- Potato glucose is the main component of blood substitutes; Moreover, it has a positive effect on the work of the heart muscle and memory (according to Canadian scientists, already 15 minutes after eating potatoes, the glucose in them reaches the brain cells).
Potato diet
It is used in cases of advanced renal failure, when a diet low in protein is recommended (20-25 g of protein / day). Its main ingredients are: 1 kg of peeled potatoes, 1/2 cube of butter, 50 g of sugar, 300 g of vegetables and fruit. Serve the potatoes boiled or baked, shelled or peeled, with the addition of butter and vegetables.
They can also be used to prepare other dishes, e.g. Silesian dumplings, chops,Casseroles and pies, but you have to forget about s alt. Exceptionally, to diversify the monotony of the potato diet, you can also prepare dishes with potatoes fried in fat and baked or baked with the addition of fat (however, use only easily digestible fats: fresh butter, rapeseed, soybean or sunflower oil and olive oil).
In the case of renal failure, the main disadvantage of potatoes is the high potassium content, which is not recommended in some patients. However, you can significantly lower its level by using the double cooking method - after peeling and cutting the potatoes into smaller pieces, put them in cold water and boil them (for a few or several minutes), then drain them, pour fresh water again and cook until soft.
In addition to potatoes, you can also use potato flour to prepare meals (e.g. for cutlets, pies, noodles), which gives the dishes the right consistency. The potato diet is supplemented with starchy bread (starch bread, rolls or sweet potato flour bread), which you can eat without any restrictions.
How to check the type of potato?Cross-section a tuber. If the two halves stick together, this is a starchy variety best for thickening soups and making noodles.