[Sca-cooks] Potatoes was Re: Recipe to cure leprosy

[Terry Decker]

As well as "How the devil Luxury, with his fat rump and potato finger, 
tickles these together!"  from "Troilus and Cressida."

Sweet potatoes (I. batata) were well known in England by the end of the 
Elizabethan period, having been introduced during Henry VIII's reign, and 
were used in sexual innuendo, probably due to their shape.  The first 
reference to white potatoes (S. tuberosum) in England is from John Gerard 
and dates to 1586.  The first record of cultivation in the British Isles is 
from County Down, Ireland, where there is a recorded lease of land for 
growing flax and potatoes from 1606.  Since sweet potatoes are tropical or 
sub-tropical, it can be inferred that the potatoes referenced are white 
potatoes.


There is a line in one of Shakespeare's plays "The Merry Wives of Windsor" 
"Let the sky rain potatoes"
http://www.iloveshakespeare.com/blog/let-the-sky-rain-potatoes/

Daniel