Why do Americans eat potatoes with the skin?

Mon Feb 8 15:17:20 UTC 2010

In the early 1980s, when I was studying in Germany (Universitaet Konstanz), I remember my German house mates expressing surprise--bordering on consternation--that I was preparing and eating potatoes with the skins on.  And I don't recall ever being served potatoes with the skin during my 2 years there.  I wouldn't be surprised if this view of eating unpeeled potatoes were the case in most of Europe.

Though I did wash them thoroughly, I only hope that the potato skins I ate while in Germany were not laden with the undesirables mentioned in many of the posts, though I suppose it's moot at this point in time.

Tony Vanchu

Dr. Anthony J. Vanchu
Director, JSC Language Education Center
TechTrans International, Inc.
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX
anthony.j.vanchu at nasa.gov
Phone:  (281) 483-0644
Fax:  (281) 483-4050

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 3:17 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Why do Americans eat potatoes with the skin?

Shrager, Miriam wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> The exchange of messages on the SEELANGS reminded me that when I came
> to the US I asked myself the same question, but in a reverse order:
> "Why do Americans eat potatoes with the skin?". I visited several
> countries before I came here and I've never seen potatoes eaten with
> the skin. In Russia even when we ate new potatoes we only cooked them
> with the skin, "v mundire", but after they were cooked we usually
> peeled them and added butter and dill. I heard that in the 80's in
> Russia some people started to eat potatoes with the skins for the
> vitamins, but it was something unusual and exotic. After all, besides
> vitamins there might me residue from all the fertilizers and
> pesticides. So, I personally prefer to peel potatoes, but each one
> has his own habits and tastes.

The term you seek is "converse" (of a proposition). E.g., the converse
of "X is true" is "not X is not true."

Be that as it may, as a child I was served potatoes without the skin on
the assumption that (because I was a child) I would not like them with
the skin, but both parents (from different cultural backgrounds)
routinely ate them whole, and when I inquired they happily allowed me to
do so as well.

I can understand how someone from a culture where potato skins are
associated with dirt, mold, toxins, etc. would be disgusted, but here in
America we have no such association, and I've seen many conversations
where the choice was regarded as a matter of personal taste (do you or
don't you like the flavor and texture?). If a Russian protested to me
that what I was doing was disgusting, my initial reaction would be,
"What do you mean? What's the big deal? I eat apple skins, too." And I
know a few people who eat the skins of sweet potatoes (often mistermed
"yams") as well, but that isn't my preference, so I leave them aside. No
harm, no foul.

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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