As an initiative to promote the International Year of the Potato and UN goals, the UN has launched ‘The Potato: Around the Globe in 200 Recipes,' a cookbook filled with recipes that demonstrate the versatility of the humble spud. The book was launched on 6 November by the UN Economic Commission.

It demonstrates how the potato has become firmly cemented internationally, in the centuries following its transportation to Europe by the first explorers to Latin America including English maritime hero Sir Walter Raleigh, who presented the exotic vegetable to Queen Elizabeth I.

In Italy potatoes are stuffed with mascarpone, in Germany they are turned into sausages and in Moldova they're blended into soup with cheese and chives.
From "Boranie Katschalu" in Afghanistan - fried potatoes, cheese, garlic and mint - to a chicken, veal, potato and banana stew from Venezuela, called Sancocho, the book shows the versatility of the vegetable and what can be done with a bit of imagination.
It's the world's fourth most important food after maize, wheat and rice, and it's also good for you, rich in carbohydrates, potassium and Vitamin C.
"The potato is one of the world's healthiest root vegetables, with a larger high-quality protein content than that of other roots and tubers," commented UN Economic Commission for Europe official Pier Giacomo Bianchi, who is responsible for standardising seed potatoes to facilitate international trade in the crop.
"We work towards ensuring that only healthy and high-yielding seed potatoes enter the international market," he said.
he book was launched on 6 November the UN Economic Commission.
The cookbook shows how truly international the potato has become in the centuries following its transportation to Europe by the first explorers to Latin America including English maritime hero Sir Walter Raleigh, who presented the exotic vegetable to Queen Elizabeth I.

In Italy potatoes are stuffed with mascarpone, in Germany they are turned into sausages and in Moldova they're blended into soup with cheese and chives.

From "Boranie Katschalu" in Afghanistan - fried potatoes, cheese, garlic and mint - to a chicken, veal, potato and banana stew from Venezuela, called Sancocho, the book shows the versatility of the vegetable and what can be done with a bit of imagination.

The potato is the world's fourth most important food after maize, wheat and rice, and it's also good for you, rich in carbohydrates, potassium and Vitamin C.

"The potato is one of the world's healthiest root vegetables, with a larger high-quality protein content than that of other roots and tubers," commented UN Economic Commission for Europe official Pier Giacomo Bianchi, who is responsible for standardising seed potatoes to facilitate international trade in the crop.

"We work towards ensuring that only healthy and high-yielding seed potatoes enter the international market," he said.