Potato Head

I love potatoes. In fact, we have a long history together. My mom says that the only craving she had when she was pregnant was for potatoes. I still love chips and all forms of aloo. Even the wierdest sabzi will become better if served with aloo.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm............

Now imagine my surprise when I read recently in India Today's SPICE magazine (Sept issue 2009) what the five most expensive foods in the world were:

1. Saffron
2. Macadamia Nuts
3. Beluga Caviar
4. White truffle
5. La Bonnotte potatoes

The fifth position goes to the aloo!! Which is the common man's food in India actually (aloo pyaaz). The BJP govt actually lost power in a state election when the prices of both potatoes and onions sky rocketed. This enabled the Congress govt to come back in a big way.

Coming back to the rare variety of potato.....

La Bonnotte potatoes are grown on the Isle of Noirmoutier in France. They actually fetch a market price of Euroes 500 per kilo (Rs 34403 per kilo). Here, (according to a magazine article), seaweed is added to the soil in which the rare potato is grown. Only about 20000 kgs are grown each year, so that, as with the law of supply and demand, the price will stay high.

Imagine that.... Interesting right?