Westerly Sun Column | Let’s make 2024 the Year of the Potato!

Originally, I was going to write about the word “rizz,” the word chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as word of the year. As much as I tried, I was left uninspired. My colleague and I were bouncing ideas off one another when she mentioned the magic word. I know I’ve written a lot about food, but this time, my friends, it is about what I believe is the most perfect food in the world. Much maligned by the low carb culture, I am talking about the potato. Not only are potatoes delicious, but they can also be made in a multitude of ways so that you will never get tired of them. Let’s make 2024 the Year of the Potato!

We have our fabulous cookbook collection, including books specifically about potatoes. “Smashed, mashed, boiled, and baked and fried, too!” by Raghavan Iyer is worth a flip through. Some of the more interesting recipes include chocolate sweet potato pound cake and potato crisps with dark chocolate. Being more of a purist, these sound a little strange, but interesting. There is even a whole book devoted to potato salads called “Potato Salad: Fifty Favorite Recipes,” but most recipe books include the potato in at least a few of the recipes.

On a more serious note, there is much history surrounding the potato, including most famously the Great Famine in Ireland. Over 5,000 ships left Ireland filled with people fleeing the famine and poverty. There are many books that have been written chronicling that tragedy that you can find at the library as well as through our consortium. A 2020 book called “Voyage of Mercy” by Stephen Puleo is the compelling story of the USS Jamestown, a converted warship, that left out of Boston to Cork, Ireland on one of the first humanitarian trips authorized by Congress. The ship brought food, clothes, and other supplies to the suffering people.

In recent years I feel the humble potato has received a bad rap, but in fact, it has good things like vitamin C and potassium as well as antioxidants (particularly the ones with red and purple skin). So please join me in making 2024 the Year of the Potato. Come by the library to check out recipes as well as histories of the humble potato.

Oh, in case you didn’t know, the word “rizz” is a shortened form of the word charisma that was popularized on social media. It’s a noun that means “style, charm, attractiveness, or the ability to attract a romantic partner”. So there you go!

by Caroline Badowski, Head of Adult Services