Every year on May 30, Peru celebrates National Potato Day (Dia Nacional de la Papa).
Today, potatoes are one of the most common and common foods and are found in almost all cuisines of the world. Although the history of its appearance, cultivation and use is different for each people, the attitude towards this crop has developed everywhere the same – potatoes were liked and have become a mass product throughout the world.
But in Peru they not only love this vegetable, but here they have a special attitude towards it. Potatoes are considered the cultural heritage and national pride of Peruvians in this country. Here they call him nothing more than «dad». It is no secret that the homeland of potatoes is South America, and Peruvians claim that it was in their country that it appeared about 8 thousand years ago. By the way, in Peru there are more than 3 thousand species of varieties of this tuber, and only here the largest number of wild species will still grow.
According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI), – potatoes are a very valuable genetic resource that needs to be protected and developed. In 19 regions of the country there are more than 700 thousand vegetable farms, and their potato production volume annually amounts to almost 5 million tons. Which is not surprising, because the level of potato consumption in Peru is about 90 kilograms per capita per year (which is only slightly inferior to Russian indicators – of about 110-120 kg per person per year).
But there are more than – varieties of this vegetable here in almost any local supermarket you can buy up to 10 varieties of potatoes, differing in size, color, shape and purpose, and Peruvians know how to cook quite a few potato dishes.
In addition, in Peru, almost every museum has potato halls, and in the capital, the city of Lima, there is an International Potato Center, where extensive genetic material is available and stored – about 4 thousand samples of various varieties of this vegetable cultivated in the Andes, and 1.5 thousand varieties of more than 100 wild relatives of potatoes.
The holiday itself, as a national day, was established in 2005 in order to promote the growth of consumption of this type of vegetable in the country, and its celebration also takes place at the national level. Traditionally, the festive program of Potato Day includes many concerts, competitions, mass celebrations and tastings dedicated to potatoes, which take place in literally all corners of the country.