The humble spud is one of the most popular foods of the western world. The word 'potato' comes from the Caribbean word batata, which means sweet potato. The potato is actually part of the same family as the tomato, eggplant, pepper and deadly nightshade.

Ancestors of the legendary Incas were the first to cultivate potatoes, high up in the South American Andes. It is believed that they held strong beliefs associated with the tuber, and used them as a means of telling the time and predicting the future. Potatoes were so important to the people of this region that their descendants, the modern day Quechua Indians, have more then 1000 different names for potatoes in their native language.

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