Monday 15 February 2010

A World of Potatoes - It’s Wrong, just so Wrong



In my days as an enthusiastic travel agent. It’s so long ago now that I cannot remember when it was. I once sold some flights to a man who was to say the least a potato obsessed man an understatement. He told me he grows about 200 hundred rare varieties, and gladly informed me that there are over 7000 different types in the world. He travels around Europe giving speeches on potatoes. Like I said he’s an obsessed man.
Chiloe has 4 indigenous types of potatoes. All very similar in size and shape, only the colour inside the tatties are different. One is red, another is black and one has rings on the inside.
Near to where we were staying in Ancud was a small café called the “World of Potatoes”. A nice place with a small menu, that sells everything to do with potatoes. The papas rellenas were fantastic, some of the best I’ve ever had. But not quite as good as what a small old lady was selling in a small market in a small village in Colombia we visited once. They were awesome.
I was going to do a blog about papas rellenas, but never got round to it. You never know I still may do one. They deserve one.
So looking at the menu, I noticed they had some cakes on it. What followed disgusted me. It really did. I even told them it was wrong, wrong, wrong. Thankfully they laughed it off, as ramblings of a mad man. I was the mad one?
Basically, they had several tarts, mainly fruit ones. Now everyone would naturally use pastry, but alas no. A World of Potatoes in keeping with their name use mashed potato as a pastry base. It’s wrong. It is.
They even brought some out to show me, strangely all of them only had one slice taken out. Odd huh? But the look of that mash potato base could not persuade me to have a slice. Call me old fashioned, but some things do not go.
Lina tried to persuade me to try one, but she wouldn’t do it herself. She wasn’t hungry she told me. Cunning excuses huh?
We settled down with our coffee and my papa rellena, as I said it was a delish snack. Filled with yummy meat and mash, but those tarts distressed me, I think I had sleepless nights afterwards. Scary stuff. 

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