The Potato Ban For Freaky Friday...!

The potato got off to a rough start as a favorite food of many. In fact, it was even banned for a while from the palace in England. Crazy, right?

But wait! It gets even worse for the poor spud. How the potato made it this far is beyond me. I'm certainly glad that it did, hgowever.

Eating Potatoes In Court

In ancient times, the potato was met with superstitions wherever it was introduced. Opponents of the potato labeled it poisonous, strange, and, in extreme cases, evil. In France, it was fingered as the cause of leprosy, syphilis, narcosis, scrofula, premature death, and impotence. It was also accused of destroying the soil in which it grew. In Besancon, France, it was against the law to plant potatoes.

The potato found its way to England when Sir Walter Raleigh, an English explorer, planted it on his estate. He later offered it as a gift to Queen Elizabeth I, who invited several nobles and landowners to a banquet with the potato on its menu. Unfortunately for everyone present at the banquet, the cooks threw away the edible tubers and cooked the leaves and stems, which are poisonous, as it turns out. Everyone who ate the meal ended up sick, and the innocent potato was banned from being served in the palace.

Guess you can't blame them for being a little spooked by the potato, but in this case the food and it's supporters won. Thank goodness!

Coffee out on the patio this morning, providing it doesn't rain!