Potatoes to blame for Belarusians’ tolerance and credulity
Belarusians consume 3 times more potatoes than Europeans do. Maybe that’s why Belarus is still not in Europe? Potatoes provoke inertia, apathy, naivety, credulity and can even cause cretinism. It’s because potatoes aggravate the effect of lack of iodine, think Belarusian scientists. Longstanding consumption of potatoes provokes tolerance which is considered to be a Belarusian national idiosyncrasy. The theory interested a writer and publicist Ales Pashkevich:
Ales Pashkevіch: “So it means that the brains of Belarusians are “being starched” from generation to generation. There is also a certain moral aspect of the issue: potatoes spoil Belarusians”.
The theory of “starching brains” is not only a beautiful metaphor. Larysa Barysevish, a dietician of the “Bagira” fitness centre, noted some inertia in the movements of people eating a lot of potatoes.
Larysa Barysevіch: “The starch provokes secretion of the phlegm. Of course, it leads to inertia! A lot of the phlegm calms people down. According to an Eastern theory it leads to calmness”.
Larysa Leanidauna says that only people performing hard manual labour can afford eating potatoes. Otherwise you can say goodbye to your waist! Potatoes are not included in diets and it is recommended to eat them as a separate dish, not as garnish.
Larysa Barysevіch: “All those draniki are like a thermonuclear food for your body. Fried potatoes keep a lot of kalium and are recommended for people having problems with cardiovascular system or arrhythmia. Potatoes juice is good for disordered stomach. It’s all because of the effect of the phlegm: it eliminates heartburn and decreases acidity”.
Potatoes got slowly acclimatized in Belarus: it was even called the Devil’s apple. But the ideal of “pioneers” changed a lot of things for Belarusians: potatoes were officially appointed “second bread”.
According to the editor-in-chief of the “Gastronom” newspaper Ihar Danilau, new recipes of dishes made from potatoes appear in almost every issue of the edition. Local people survived thanks to potatoes from generation to generation. Ales Pashkevich continues:
Ales Pashkevіch: “The effect of struggle for survival disappears. If Belarusians were deprived of this product there would be some other genetic, physiological or physical stimulus. I don’t mean they would start cultivating pine-apples but some pre-potatoes constituent would certainly appear”.
The position of the second bread is very stable in our country: there are 72 ways of cooking potatoes mentioned in the state registry. Ivan Kalyadka, the head of the selection laboratory of the Institute of Potatoes selection counted the number of potatoes eaten by an average Belarusian every year.
Іvan Kalyadka: “People consume about 15-160 kilos of potatoes every year. In the West the number is about 50-60 or even 40 kilos per year”.
Ivan Ivanavich recommends the listeners of ERB to reduce the consumption of potatoes in June. Vegetables grown last year are no longer fresh while potatoes imported from Holland and Israel are worse then Belarusian potatoes that will appear in a month.
Іvan Kalyadka: “Dutch potatoes are not grown in Holland. They are grown in Morocco. Their quality is much lower: they contain less starch and are rather watery”.
Potatoes should be replaced by other products – vegetables, fish and fruit. These products were forced out of our ration by the “Devil’s apple”.
Ivan Kalyadka does not believe in the invisible war waged by potatoes against Belarusians. But Ales Pashkevich thinks that it is not connected with the scientific research only. If the damage done to the health of Belarusian is confirmed the state will have to reform the rural economy which is not only a beautiful theory.
Photo by www.artgreensofa.com
Picture by Evgeniya Gapchinskoya
Ales Pashkevіch: “So it means that the brains of Belarusians are “being starched” from generation to generation. There is also a certain moral aspect of the issue: potatoes spoil Belarusians”.
The theory of “starching brains” is not only a beautiful metaphor. Larysa Barysevish, a dietician of the “Bagira” fitness centre, noted some inertia in the movements of people eating a lot of potatoes.
Larysa Barysevіch: “The starch provokes secretion of the phlegm. Of course, it leads to inertia! A lot of the phlegm calms people down. According to an Eastern theory it leads to calmness”.
Larysa Leanidauna says that only people performing hard manual labour can afford eating potatoes. Otherwise you can say goodbye to your waist! Potatoes are not included in diets and it is recommended to eat them as a separate dish, not as garnish.
Larysa Barysevіch: “All those draniki are like a thermonuclear food for your body. Fried potatoes keep a lot of kalium and are recommended for people having problems with cardiovascular system or arrhythmia. Potatoes juice is good for disordered stomach. It’s all because of the effect of the phlegm: it eliminates heartburn and decreases acidity”.
Potatoes got slowly acclimatized in Belarus: it was even called the Devil’s apple. But the ideal of “pioneers” changed a lot of things for Belarusians: potatoes were officially appointed “second bread”.
According to the editor-in-chief of the “Gastronom” newspaper Ihar Danilau, new recipes of dishes made from potatoes appear in almost every issue of the edition. Local people survived thanks to potatoes from generation to generation. Ales Pashkevich continues:
Ales Pashkevіch: “The effect of struggle for survival disappears. If Belarusians were deprived of this product there would be some other genetic, physiological or physical stimulus. I don’t mean they would start cultivating pine-apples but some pre-potatoes constituent would certainly appear”.
The position of the second bread is very stable in our country: there are 72 ways of cooking potatoes mentioned in the state registry. Ivan Kalyadka, the head of the selection laboratory of the Institute of Potatoes selection counted the number of potatoes eaten by an average Belarusian every year.
Іvan Kalyadka: “People consume about 15-160 kilos of potatoes every year. In the West the number is about 50-60 or even 40 kilos per year”.
Ivan Ivanavich recommends the listeners of ERB to reduce the consumption of potatoes in June. Vegetables grown last year are no longer fresh while potatoes imported from Holland and Israel are worse then Belarusian potatoes that will appear in a month.
Іvan Kalyadka: “Dutch potatoes are not grown in Holland. They are grown in Morocco. Their quality is much lower: they contain less starch and are rather watery”.
Potatoes should be replaced by other products – vegetables, fish and fruit. These products were forced out of our ration by the “Devil’s apple”.
Ivan Kalyadka does not believe in the invisible war waged by potatoes against Belarusians. But Ales Pashkevich thinks that it is not connected with the scientific research only. If the damage done to the health of Belarusian is confirmed the state will have to reform the rural economy which is not only a beautiful theory.
Photo by www.artgreensofa.com
Picture by Evgeniya Gapchinskoya
