1272 Yum Yam

Everyone loves a tuber.
I read a couple of news stories lately about our tuberous friends. Seems China is moving in the direction of potato-hood. Potatoes yield a lot more calories per acre than rice. And they take a lot less water to grow.
With China facing a potential population of 1.5 billion in the next couple of decades, the authorities are pulling rice from the agricultural menu.
The Chinese public is not that warm to the idea. So far, the only potato offerings that have caught on are “chips” with flavors like cool cucumber and spicy prawn.
Yum, Spicy Prawn potato chips. Someone call Pringles.
I don’t know...I’m all for saving water, but I’m not sure I’m ready to have the Kung Pao chicken with mashed potatoes.
In other tuber news, the culinary fashion mavens are predicting that sweet potatoes are the next big food fad. Chefs from Maine to Minnesota are putting out sweet potato fries, chips, and heck, even yam on toast.
The only problem is they’re so gnarly and misshapen. So Con-Agra is taking a page from J.R. Simplot who McDonalds made a millionaire when he invented the brick-shaped regular potato.
A more beautiful and symmetrical sweet potato, and maybe even a well-proportioned yam, are in the offing. Ah, technology.
Mr. Potato-head, meet Michael Jackson.
Food nostalgiasts are always singing the praises of old-fashioned unaltered foods. And they prize things like heirloom tomatoes. So here’s the cool thing. For the first time we’ll be able to say something like “heirloom yams.”
Which actually sounds funny to me. Like a wannabe oxymoron. Two words that don’t belong together for some reason. Contradictory on some level, in spirit, if not fact.
Heirloom Yams?
Like saying orthotic flip-flops.
Or Beautiful Tuber...
America, ya gotta love it.