The potato began as an Andean crop before becoming one of the most important foods in Europe and, eventually, the world. Its journey was not immediate. Europeans were initially uncertain about it, governments later promoted it because it produced large amounts of food from relatively small areas, and dependence on the crop had enormous social consequences.
The timeline below follows the potato from Indigenous Andean agriculture to sixteenth-century Europe, mass adoption, famine and modern comfort food. The linked recipes show how one American crop became so deeply embedded in European cuisines that dishes built around it now feel ancient and local.
