| When you're learning to speak French you are usually | | | | To cut a long story short, Parmentier, an army |
| told that a potato is a "pomme de terre" - which literally | | | | pharmacist at the time, was captured in the seven |
| translates as apple of the ground. When you go to the | | | | years war by the Russians. While a prisoner he was |
| market though, it's much more common to ask for | | | | fed potatoes and saw others eating them with no ill |
| "patates". It's just another one of those things that | | | | effects. He became convinced of their benefits and on |
| learning French in France gives you - the language | | | | his return to France began to try to spread the word |
| that's in use every day rather than the language of | | | | about how good the humble potato could be for |
| books and CDs. It's those little nuances that you really | | | | people. |
| can't pick up any other way. | | | | Still there was great resistance. No matter how poor, |
| Dishes with mashed potato - what we know of in the | | | | people still thought them pig-food or poisonous. So |
| UK as shepherd's or cottage pie - are called | | | | Parmentier hatched a plan. He planted a large field of |
| "parmentier". Quite often these are a mix of beef | | | | potatoes and had the guarded by soldiers day and |
| mince and chunks of pork sausage, which is an | | | | night. Of course human nature being what it is, the |
| unusual combination if you're used to the English dish | | | | peasants thought that if it was guarded, it must be |
| but quite nice. It's not refined French food, this is a | | | | valuable - so they bribed the guards or stole the |
| peasant dish as it was in the UK. The most interesting | | | | potatoes and ate them themselves! |
| thing about "parmentier" though is the tale about how it | | | | After that, dishes with potato (usually mashed) were |
| got it's name. | | | | called "parmentier". |
| It seems back in the 16th century the French would not | | | | The truth might be a bit less romantic, and it was |
| eat potatoes. As far as they were concerned, | | | | probably famine which finally broke French people's |
| potatoes were for pigs, quite literally. The French | | | | resistance, but Parmentier did spend years and years |
| government even banned the growing of potatoes in | | | | working with all levels of society getting his message |
| 1748, believing they caused leprosy! | | | | across and he did plant considerable areas of land for |
| Despite the fact that the peasants were starving, and | | | | that purpose. Anyway, why let the facts ruin such a |
| despite every country around them eating them, the | | | | great story? Next time you're having your pomme de |
| French just wouldn't have it - until Monsieur Parmentier | | | | terre, or patate, remember Monsieur Parmentier! |
| came on the scene. | | | | |