Idaho Potatoes and Their Racy Origin

Our license plates are a giveaway.  No matter where you go, Idaho is known for its potatoes.  As a friend once joked, you can go for a walk and hopscotch to try and avoid them.  A staple of most tables, the potato is genetically related to the tomato, even though most of us wouldn’t notice any similarity in taste.  But how did that happen?

The Idaho Potato originated in a Pickup Bar Versus a Potato Bar

Ever see a hot tomato in a singles bar?  Well, some eight to nine million years ago, there was a hookup between the two plants, or something that resembled tomatoes and potatoes.  How this happened is a guess.  Anything that observed the merger is long gone!  There are plants in some parts of the world that resemble potatoes, but those are found above ground, whereas the potato thrives in shallow soil.  Especially in Idaho.  Not like in the mud in Maine, where some watery product is called potatoes.

The Two Flavors Belong Together

By the way, I like both potatoes and tomatoes, and the two, like eggs, are almost universal in the variety of uses for your table.  My sister loved tomatoes when she was a little girl, and would often eat them like I eat an apple.  One day in grade school, Mom packed a whole tomato in my lunch box.  I was eating it when an older boy stopped by and said that I must be Cindy Colley’s brother.  When I asked how he knew, he laughed.  “Because you’re eating a tomato,” he shared.

The forerunner to the modern potato may not have been edible, but I can eat the current iteration boiled, mashed, baked, and fried.  And tomato ketchup is a good combination.