Musing 15 July or potatoes

Note: I mention some history here and gloss over many, many important pieces of information. If you think you know more about this than I do, you're probably right and I celebrate your superior knowledge.

There was a leftover potato looking at me this morning, almost forlorn as if wondering why it didn't get eaten last night. I felt a little sorry for it, and a little disappointed in myself that I hadn't put it away properly but let it dry out.

Before I even consciously decided, my hands were reaching for a knife, cast iron pan (the one from Kevin's grandmother so it's been in use for probably a century), an onion and some other veg. Some oil, some chopping, and hash appeared. 

I love hash. It's such an easy and delicious way to use up whatever might be lying around.

I know a lot of people who really love potatoes. I like potatoes, but I can't say they are a cornerstone of my cooking. Whenever I eat a potato I think about my grandparents, who no doubt grew and ate their own potatoes. I think about the indigenous people who have been eating them for generations. And I think about the famine walls in Ireland.

The Great Famine in Ireland was a direct result of a potato blight, made all the worse by single-crop farming as demanded by landowners. At least a million people died, and at least a million left the country. It was catastrophic to life, culture, politics, and more. In many ways, Ireland has yet to recover, and Irish people everywhere have stories of the famine, even though it was a century ago. 

Famine walls are stone walls to nowhere, built as a work aid project sponsored by the church and government as a famine relief project. People dug, lifted, carried, and placed heavy stones, forming long walls that separate fields, all for a little money so they could buy food. 

God forbid, the church and government just feed them.

All of this passed through my mind this morning as I cut up a potato for hash. Everything we eat has history, politics, stories. Sometimes I think of them and others I don't. 

The hash was delicious. Thank you, potato.

P.S. How to make hash. Grab some veggies. Ideally, you'll have a leftover potato or sweet potato, an onion, some garlic, and whatever else is on hand. Chop it all to a roughly uniform small size. Heat some oil in a pan, cast iron is bet but whatever you have will do. Let the pan get fairly hot. Toss in veggies. You can, if you want, pay attention to the sequence so the veggies that need longer to cook go in first. Cook it all, stirring regularly but letting it sit for a while too so you have some crispy bits. Season as you please, I usually use salt, pepper, smoked paprika. When it seems done it probably is. Dish it up and eat. Yum.

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