Chipped in

hat is so irresistible about a hot salted French Fries fry that makes you pop it so fast that you nearly burn your mouth? What is it about potatoes that make them so popular? Is it the infinite number of ways you can cook them? Is it that they are so workable - easy to peel, chop and grate; no thorns, no leaves and no messy or slimy bits to deal with. Apart from Arabian and Far Eastern cuisine, potatoes from an integral part of the diet of people all over the world.

           Potatoes have been making news from years. The Inca Indians first cultivated them in Peru some 6,000 years ago and incredibly enough, the Peruvian Quechua Inguage records more than a 1,000 words that were used to describe potatoes and its varieties.

          Best known for its carbohydrate content because of which it is greatly maligned by weight-conscious people who avoid potatoes. It also has medical qualities and is rubbed on the skin of sick patients as a remedy.

          The good news for potato lovers is that potato became the first vegetable to be known in space in October 1995. NASA has developed super-nutritious and versatile spuds for astronauts on lengthy space voyages.