No - still don't have leprosy!

No - still don't have leprosy!

Apparently, when potatoes first came to France, they were only used as animal feed - because they thought the veg carried leprosy.

 

Luckily, pharmacist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813) managed to convert the French to spud-eaters, having learned of their nutritional value when he was a prisoner of war in Germany. His captors fed prisoners mashed potato for most meals, and Parmentier promoted them as a human food after his release.

And as well as being a big fan of spuds, and of Antoine himself, I am a fan of a potato side dish known as Parmentier potatoes, which I first enjoyed in a bistro in Paris.

All you have to do is chop your spuds into cubes, oil them, sprinkle with garlic and rosemary, and roast. I used to do them in the oven for 35 or 40 minutes, but now I cook them for about 25 minutes in the air fryer, and drop the frozen batter puds on top of them for the last 5 minutes. I cook the chicken mini-breasts in the other drawer of the fryer for about 12 minutes.

Some steamed veg and bisto gravy, and here it all is!

Yummy!