Potatoes are one of the most important foods. Due to the high nutritional, taste, culinary qualities, he takes second place among vegetable foods after bread. And, like bread, he never bothers.
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The assortment of cold and hot dishes and culinary products prepared from potatoes is rich and diverse.
One Lithuanian folk tale tells of a farm laborer who was late for work one day. His landowner began to scold, and he took and say to him: "Excuse me, sir. I was late because I ate twenty dishes." "What are twenty dishes?" asked the pan. The servant and began to list: "Boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, baked potatoes, soaked potatoes, crushed potatoes …"
In this joke, albeit in a somewhat naive form, the role of potatoes in national nutrition is expressed. In the past, potatoes were the breadwinner of the poor peasant, and nowadays it is a welcome food in every home.
Nutritious, high-calorie, tasty, cheap potatoes are consumed by residents of many countries in relatively large quantities. The composition of 100 g of potatoes includes about 20 g of starch, 2 g of protein, 1.2 g of mineral salts. There is a little vitamin C in potatoes (up to 20 mg), but since potatoes are often eaten, mainly in winter and spring days, it becomes one of the good sources of ascorbic acid. And it does not bother him precisely because of the variety of dishes prepared from him.
Potatoes are good in all kinds! Of course, skillful handling of it is very important to preserve the taste and nutritional value of it. For example, peeled potatoes are not stored outdoors, only in cold water, otherwise it will darken, and the loss of vitamin C will increase. Moreover, the shelf life should be short. About the loss of vitamin C should be emphasized. To fully preserve this vitamin in tubers, potatoes must be peeled, processed and heat treated shortly before use.
Vitamin C is also well preserved when cooking potatoes in meat broth. You can also say about steaming tubers.
When potatoes are fried in the main way, that is, in a small amount of fat, vitamin C is destroyed by 25-30%, and when deep-fried (in a large amount of heated fat), it does not break down.
Vitamin C is greatly lost after repeated heat treatment, and also as a result of mechanical action on potatoes, especially when it is whipped. For example, in fresh mashed potatoes of vitamin C, 70-90% is lost, and reheating leads to its complete loss.