On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 584
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theserootsandtubersarestaplefoodsfor
billionsofpeople.Theyaresubterranean
organsinwhichplantsstorestarch,large
molecularaggregatesofthesugarstheycreate
duringphotosynthesis.Theyarethereforea
concentratedandlong-livedpackageof
nourishmentforusaswell.Some
anthropologiststheorizethatrootsandtubers
mayhavehelpedfuelhumanevolution,when
theclimateoftheAfricansavannacooled
about2millionyearsagoandfruitsbecame
scarce.Becausetuberswereplentifulandfar
morenutritiouswhencooked—rawstarch
granulesresistourdigestiveenzymes,while
gelatedstarchdoesnot—theymayhave
offeredasignificantadvantagetoearly
humanswholearnedtodigforthemandroast
themintheembersofafire.
Thoughsomeundergroundvegetablesarea
thirdormorestarchbyweight,manyothers
—carrots,turnips,beets—containlittleor
nostarch.Becausestarchgranulesabsorb
moisturefromtheircellsastheycook,starchy
vegetablestendtohaveadry,mealytexture,
whilenonstarchyvegetablesremainmoistand
cohesive.
FoodWords:Root,Radish,Tuber,
Truffle
OurwordrootcomesfromanIndoEuropeanwordthatmeantboth“root”and
“branch.”Radishandlicoricesharethat
sameancestor.TubercomesfromanIndoEuropean(linguistic)rootmeaning“to
swell,”asmanyplantstorageorgansdo.
Thesamerootgaveustruffle,theswollen
undergroundfungus,aswellasthigh,
thumb,tumor,andthousand.
Potatoes
Therearemorethan200speciesofpotato,
relativesofthetomato,chilli,andtobacco
thatareindigenoustomoist,coolregionsof
