CHAPTER XX
POTATOES
COMPOSITION
Water, 78.9% Proteid, 2.1% Starch, 18% Mineral matter, .9% Fat 1.%
POTATOES stand pre-eminent among the vegetables used for food. They are tubers belonging to the Nightshade family; their hardy growth renders them easy of cultivation in almost any soil or climate, and, resisting early frosts, they may be raised in a higher latitude than the cereals.
They give needed bulk to food rather than nutriment, and, lacking in proteid, should be used in combination with meat, fish, or eggs. :
Potatoes contain an acrid juice, the greater part of which lies near the skin; it passes into the water during boiling of potatoes, and escapes with the steam from a baked potato. Potatoes are best in the fall, and keep well through the winter. By spring the starch is partially changed to dex- trin, giving the potatoes a sweetness, and when cooked a waxiness. The same change takes place when potatoes are frozen. To prevent freezing, keep a pail of cold water standing near them.
Potatoes keep best in a cool dry cellar, in barrels or piled in a bin. When sprouts appear they should be removed; receiving their nourishment from the starch, they deteriorate the potato.
New potatoes may be compared to unripe fruit, the starch grains not having reached maturity; therefore they should not be given to children or invalids.
