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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Potato is dying out in Ireland reports New York Times ---Pasta the new potato as busy parents prepare it quicker

Posted on Friday, November 25, 2011 at 06:36 AM

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The potato, the humble spud formerly and Irish favorite

Never thought I'd see the day but ....the potato is dying out in Ireland as pasta takes over according to The New York Times.

My father and his generation are surely turning in their grave.

My Dad was a spud specialist, a man who could tell with one bite what part of Ireland a potato came form and what kind it was.

It was the Irish equivalent of a French wine connoisseur, and he was noted for it.

He was not alone, for most of the last century before new-fangled food like pasta came in the spud was the common denominator a in every Irish household rich or poor.

Now it seems the spud is on its way out --along with the pub, the Catholic religion etc.

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These are distressing times!

Irish families in the modern world are preparing pasta which takes about ten minutes rather than potatoes which take far longer the newspaper reports.

The paper quotes Bord Bia the Irish food marketing board as stating that potato consumption has dropped 25 per cent in Ireland.

“We believe that, emotionally, most Irish consumers still love to eat their potatoes, but several key issues negatively impact on their consumption,” the board said
Irish mostly believe potatoes are fattening which is also a myth but the Atkins diet has remained very popular and that forbids potatoes.

“In terms of overall nutrition and including vitamin C, the potato is head and shoulders above pasta and rice,” said, a Paula Mee a Dublin dietician “But pasta will often win out, particularly when you’re busy. I don’t know any child who doesn’t eat it. The packaging is more colorful, you don’t have to peel it, and it’s quick and fast to prepare.”

“There is a legacy attached to the potato, and it obviously isn’t a happy one,” she said. “It is in our DNA to regard the potato as a peasant food linked to a past we would obviously all rather leave behind us.”

Vicky Leahy, a lecturer and single mother said spuds simply didn’t cut it any.
“To state the obvious, spuds take half an hour to prepare, while pasta takes 10 minutes and rice slightly longer,” she said. “But it’s deeper than that. Potatoes personify the Ireland of my father’s generation, where meat and two vegetables were on the table at 6 o’clock every single night. That’s what I associate them with, but we’ve all traveled and we’ve moved on.”

Liam Glennon, president of the Irish Potato Federation, said potatoes have a poor image.

“We have to tackle the ‘poor relation syndrome’ where potatoes are associated with the pre-Celtic Tiger times,” he said, referring to Ireland’s decade-long economic boom that began in the mid-1990s. “I would hope we are not in terminal decline — and I don’t believe we are. Because potatoes are so strongly associated with Ireland, such a scenario would be unthinkable.”
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READ MORE:
More news and stories on Irish food from IrishCentral

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Bruce Springsteen to play Dublin, research his Irish roots

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18 Comments

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oldboreen | Nov 26, 2011, 10:29 AM EST

@Towngate-what are you on and can you send me some!

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giddyfiddles | Nov 26, 2011, 07:41 AM EST

Niall, never will Pasta replace the humble spud! if I was stranded on a desert Island and could only take 1 pleasure with me it would be a bowl of piping hot mashed potato - (salt & knob of butter) bliss! I agree with previous comments if time is the issue just cut the potatoes into smaller cubes ! minimum 5 minutes to cook what could be quicker !

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Morninghours | Nov 26, 2011, 02:47 AM EST

Stay tuned for The Great Pasta Blight of 2012.

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pilib04 | Nov 25, 2011, 08:23 PM EST

Niall, when was the last time you boiled potatoes? If cut small it can take no more than three minutes. If cut in chunks, it could take up to eight minutes. But certainly no more. As said in Cousin Vinny, are you the only person in the entire potato eating world that takes more than 8 minutes to boil potatoes? Slan go foill, mo chara.

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ellenfromcork | Nov 25, 2011, 07:01 PM EST

What happened to my post before the PS? Well, here it is again. When I was a young girl growing up in NYC, at one point we lived in a tenement that was all Italian except for us. I made friends w/ a young Italian girl who was my age and was invited to dinner w/ her family.To this day I can still remember the shock and amazement to find there were NO POTATOES at dinner!!

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ellenfromcork | Nov 25, 2011, 06:54 PM EST

PS I love the Garda Spokesman.

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ellenfromcork | Nov 25, 2011, 06:53 PM EST

When I was a young child growing up in NYC at one point we lived in a tenement that was all Italian except for us.I was invited to have dinner w/ the family of a young Italian girl that I had made friends with. To this day I can remember the shock and amazement when I realized that there were NO Potatoes w/ dinner!!

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sirpeter | Nov 25, 2011, 05:54 PM EST

You made me LOL Bilgegate.Erra the spud will never go.Besides pasta is tasteless dried sheets of cardboard.Slippery horrible crap with no flavour of it's own worth talking about.You still have to make something to go with the pasta.A meal without meat is only a snack.

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cillowen | Nov 25, 2011, 03:26 PM EST

the spud is on its way out --along with the pub, the Catholic religion - next, all of St Patrick's good words and doings should be credited to Rome the home of his ancestors. The natives are madly blowing out while the blowins arrive in bunches. That missionary zeal is paying off big time. Bono, Geldorf and all the Irish do gooders are to be fully appreciated for their humanity.

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stanJames | Nov 25, 2011, 02:18 PM EST

Quote - What a truly idiotic remark she offers above. I'd sure hate to take a class with her! What an utter jerk. end quote NO wonder our economies are hurting, ireland, the USA etc. Comments like this sound like the person got their education in the big house from other prisoners

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stanJames | Nov 25, 2011, 02:15 PM EST

hey as long as its healthy, costs the same and the people like it, more power to pasta (which I am not fond of.............But thats kinda my problem - I might have to pay a little bit more for spuds.............Hope this doesnt hurt the farmers or create a new famine like long ago.

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Ernesider | Nov 25, 2011, 01:53 PM EST

Sadly I foresaw it happening as early as the mid sixties. Jack Gormely going into "The Congo" and after some imbibing exiting with a stone of spuds that had come all the way from Cyprus. I can still see it in my mind and as Jack was a regular visitor to our home I saw the same bag on the same day as he made his stop with my Parents before journeying home. It was like a Pearl Harbour attack in my view and to this day I still haven't come to terms with it. Although I do not hold Jack as responsible for helping this invasion of foreign variants he was the first I saw with them. Jimmy, the supplier, had Cavan blood in him so no doubt he has some culpability in this pasta trend. A boyhood favourite poem on spuds has a message that is worth sharing "They make the boys stout, and they keep the girls slender, They soften the heart and they strengthen the mind; And the man from the bog, or the lord in high splendour, All live by potatoes, as all folks can find".

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Towngate | Nov 25, 2011, 01:31 PM EST

A GARDA SPOKESMAN said " Nobody taks anny notace av that Dilloneejit! Shur isn't he dis Sites Rigistered Eejit's altogether!...tellin dacent peeple dat nobody talks like dis now! Still, fair play t'im: how well he knew dat it was himself I was talking about!!"

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CitizenWhy | Nov 25, 2011, 12:53 PM EST

Nothing like a good boiled potato, white or sweet, with salt and olive oil. Pasta bah! Too much trouble to prepare. What skill or times does boiling take? Remember Queen Victoria, when she asked why the poor Irish looked so healthy, was told that the diet of potatoes and milk (or any dairy) produced the perfect meal. Later we cam to understand that this combo all the right proteins, enzymes, vitamins, etc. Any stories like that about pasta? ... P.S. The potatoes most suited for boiling are low in starch.

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donal1951 | Nov 25, 2011, 10:19 AM EST

Don't take this the wrong way, I love pasta. Some say I'm an Irishman with an Italian belly. But I love spuds too. If the family is small, or if one is a monk such as myself, a spud can be cooked quicker than pasta by "baking" it in the microwave.

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