Why do Russians eat potatoes without the skin?

[Elena Ostrovskaya]

Because we know better?:)
I don't know what kind of answer you are looking for, but generally speaking
the early season potatoes, with thin skin are  peeled very rarely, whereas
by the end of the season the skin does not taste terribly good, so normally
it is peeled. And baked potatoes are normally eaten with their skins.
As for the soup, of course, normally potatoes are peeled. In the times of
famine, though, soups were sometimes made of potato skins rather than
potatoes themselves. Since you do not quote the complaint it is hard even to
say what exactly the prisoner is unhappy with, just the disgusting presence
of the skins in the soup or the soup being made mainly with potato skins,
which is even more disgusting. And the skins of the potatoes that are served
in prison are very likely to be literally inedible, anyway.

Elena Ostrovskaya

On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 9:26 PM, Laura Kline <klinela at comcast.net> wrote:

> Dear All,
> As I understand it, Russians almost never eat potatoes with the skin on.
> There even the account of a female prisoner who complained of potato skins
> in the prison soup. Does anyone know why this is?
> Thanks,
> Laura
>
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