National Potato Day hoping to chip away at couscous

There won't be a spud left unturned today with dozens of events being held around the country to mark National Potato Day.

Potato farm walks, harvesting demonstrations and cooking and tasting sessions are being held to lure people away from quinoa and couscous and back to the spud.

Restaurateur Pádraic Óg Gallagher will be encouraging people to get some dirt under their nails by helping him to harvest his crop of potatoes on the pavement outside the Boxty House in Dublin’s Temple Bar this afternoon. He replaced his hanging flower baskets with potato plants some time ago and has grown about 160 varieties this year.

Mr Gallagher said some people were snobbish about potatoes. “But people should remember there’s zero fat in a potato, it’s full of vitamins and there’s more potassium in a potato than there is in a banana.”

He said 60,000 tonnes of frozen chips were imported every year. “It’s ridiculous when you can do oven chips in 20 minutes by dicing potatoes into eighths, drizzling a bit of oil on them and pop them in the oven.”

While our dependence on the potato has fallen significantly in recent decades, our average annual consumption, at 85kg per person, is still 2½ times higher than the world average. Some 96.4 per cent of Irish households buy potatoes regularly, making it the most popular source of carbohydrate.

Research by potato growers and crisp manufacturers Keogh’s Farm has found that the Rooster is still ruling the roost as the State’s most popular potato variety. It is the most planted main crop potato variety, accounting for 60 per cent of all plantings and retail sales.

Bord Bia

Keogh’s started National Potato Day in 2011, and it has since been embraced by Bord Bia, the IFA and the

Irish Potato Federation

.

Keogh's general manager, Tom Keogh, said Ireland had always had a turbulent love affair with the potato because of our history of famine.

“But with the ongoing trends of fad diets and the introduction of sexier carbohydrates, we need to encourage consumers to hold the quinoa, linguine and couscous and revisit our beloved spud.”

While there are more than 500 Irish potato growers, three-quarters of the national crop is grown by 200 growers.

See potato.ie for a list of potato-related events today.