ROOTS AND TUBERS WE EAT 1 87 



is supplied. Before the old tuber withers away 

 new ones may be formed. So the plant renews 

 its youth, undiscouraged by adverse conditions, 

 that would make most plants give up and die. 



Grate a raw potato after washing and peeling it, 

 and pour cold water over the pulp. Drain and 

 squeeze all the liquid possible into a glass tumbler. 

 At first it is milky, then a white sediment appears, 

 and the liquid above it is clear. Dry the sediment, 

 and it cracks like dried mud. It is caked potato 

 starch, like the laundry starch we buy. The clear 

 fluid that you pour off of the starch contains 

 albumen, like white of egg. Heat the liquid and 

 this coagulates. With the albumen is a small 

 amount of sugar, and fat, and gum. These are the 

 elements, combined with starch, that make 

 potatoes so important a food. Dried, the potato 

 would be about the equivalent of rice, and a much 

 more condensed food than it is. Three quarters 

 of the bulk of potatoes when they are dug must 

 be counted out. It is water. 



To get the very best out of a fine potato, one 

 should cook it in its jacket. Scrub it with a brush, 

 rinse away all dirt, and bake it. Or steam it, by 

 placing it in a colander over a kettle of boiling 

 water. If one must peel potatoes, let it be the 

 thinnest possible paring that is removed. Under 



