This week marks ‘Chip Week’ in the UK, February 20th-26th, 2012. So help celebrate by checking out their collection of funky chip recipes through the decades, like these ones Here. Or have your hand at cooking or eating some of your own tasty Chips at home!

There is no doubt about it, us Kiwi’s love our hot Chips. Around 7 million serves of chips are cooked up and consumed here in NZ every week. With their high fat and salt, content, eating these every day can be very problematic to your health.  A few years back a bunch of guys at The Chip Group came up with a solution: To produce healthier potato chips in the hope to improve the health of this country.

The Chip Group is a New Zealand association which includes everyone involved in the production of a Potato Chip. From those growing the potato, to chip and oil manufacturers, to equipment suppliers right through to the cooking.  Their main goal is “To improve the nutritional status of deep-fried chips served by the New Zealand food service, by reducing fat (total and saturated) and salt content.” Read more about the great stuff they are doing here.

The cost of your supermarket shop definitely ‘ain’t what it used to be’!

With the combination of tough economic times and increasing food prices, making our food go further is hugely important.

When choosing foods that will feed your family for less Potatoes are the ideal option. Check this maths out! One 4kg bag of potatoes provides around 25 serves, based on the average serving of 150grams. So for around $10 you can feed a family of 5 for five meals per week. That ends up being around 40cents per serve. You can’t get much better than that from the humble potato!

So full of nutrients, filling and easy to prepare Potatoes are hands down your first choice when it comes to value for money. Fresh potatoes are tastier, and produce a better product, so aim to buy a new bag every week on your grocery shop.

Bonus fact – If a man has a bag of potatoes in his trolley, he is more likely to seem attractive and healthy to the opposite sex! Check out this Youtube video here to find out more.

The cost of your supermarket shop definitely ‘ain’t what it used to be’! With the combination of tough economic times and increasing food prices, making our food go further is hugely important.

When choosing foods that will feed your family for less Potatoes are the ideal option. Check this maths out! One 4kg bag of potatoes provides around 25 serves, based on the average serving of 150grams. So for around $10 you can feed a family of 5 for five meals per week. That ends up being around 40cents per serve. You can’t get much better than that from the humble potato!

So full of nutrients, filling and easy to prepare Potatoes are hands down your first choice when it comes to value for money. Fresh potatoes are tastier, and produce a better product, so aim to buy a new bag every week on your grocery shop.

Bonus fact – If a man has a bag of potatoes in his trolley, he is more likely to seem attractive and healthy to the opposite sex! Check out this Youtube video here to find out more.

Potatoes have a very high satiety rating. Which means they help you feel fuller for longer and can stop you from over eating. Their Satiety Index (SI) -which is the rating given to compare different foods, shows Potatoes are 3 times higher than White bread and twice as filling as White Rice and Pasta.

As you start to pay off those bills and debts from the over-spending during summer let the potato be your support crew. The perfect pantry staple for keeping a full stomach and a full wallet. While also helping you stick to those New Years Resolution to look and feel great. This Mediterranean Potato and Vegetable Bake is ideal for a quick and tasty mid-week evening meal. Check out the recipe here.

Want to know the real way to a woman’s heart this Valentine’s Day?  Look no further than the humble potato.

According to a recent Potatoes New Zealand survey, 60 per cent of women perceive the opposite sex to be a healthier prospect with the presence of new potatoes in their supermarket trolley.

The survey was commissioned by Potatoes New Zealand to discover what specific items in a man’s shopping trolley made female shoppers perceive men as more or less attractive.

Potatoes New Zealand food consultant and writer Glenda Gourley is encouraged to see women realise new potatoes are a healthy and interesting vegetable.

“New potatoes are easy to cook and full of flavour, so I’m thrilled to see that they are the top of the list,” she said. “Kiwi women understand the real health benefits of eating potatoes, and it’s encouraging to see they like a man who eats potatoes too.”

Other findings revealed 44 per cent of female respondents said having potatoes in a man’s trolley would make them want him to cook for them, with 27 per cent believing potatoes could potentially make him a good partner.

Red wine came second with pasta sauce placing third for likely items that women associate with a man being a good cook. Beer and instant noodles came out worst on the healthy lifestyle scale.

Fruit and vegetables in general were also viewed positively by women, with apples and cucumbers topping the list of items women associated with being a good partner.

“Naturally fruit and vegetables were predicted to come out on top of the healthy lifestyle scale, but having potatoes in the top three reflects that the female population are not being brain washed by fad diets or the carbohydrate phobic.”

New potatoes are still in season and are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, containing more potassium than bananas.

Potatoes New Zealand commissioned an independent research company to conduct the survey, after similar findings were generated in the UK. The overseas results showed that 93 per cent of women perceive potatoes in a men’s trolley as indicating he has a good job.

For more information, recipes and fun facts about potatoes please visit www.potatoesnz.co.nz

Potatoes New Zealand

Media release

31 January 2011

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Glenda Gourley

Food and Education Consultants

Potatoes New Zealand

027 428 1646

Gourley@xtra.co.nz

Word is out! The Winner of the Grand Prize for the Best Chip Shop of 2011 was awarded to:

Oppies Takeaways in Rotorua. After being judged on: taste, quality, fat and salt content, shop cleanliness, customer service and their ability to follow ‘Tips for Better Chips’ they came away with top prize. Support the winners in your region, and check out the Best Chip Shops here. If your going to have chips, you might as well eat the healthiest ones.

Michael Huang, owner of Oppies Takeaways in Rotorua, was very happy about taking out the National prize for 2011, after being a regional winner in 2008 and 2009. He can’t believe how busy he has been since the award was announced. “People who have not eaten fish and chips for years come here because they know we use the healthiest cooking methods.” says Michael.

Speaking about his prize-winning chips, the Chip Group Chairperson Glenda Gourley say, “They are fluffy on the inside and crisp and golden on the outside and they are also low in fat.”

At Oppies, Michael chooses to use rice bran oil and makes sure his staff stick very closely to the industry standard guidelines to craft his famous chips.

Check out this article in the January 2012 issue of the NZ Healthy Food Guide Magazine. (Page 37) Where they talk about the healthiest cooking techniques. Good to see they are supporting our message that the amount of fat in a Potato depends on the way you cook it!

According to our friends over at HFG. Here are the facts:

Per 100g of Potato.

Baked Jacket Potato: Fat = 0.3g. Straight from the paddock the Potato contains virtually no fat. Help keep it this way by choosing to bake your potato. Serve it with a dollop of light sour cream, or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for a delicious, low fat meal idea.

Peeled & Roasted Potato: Fat = 5g. You can lower this fat content even more by using spray oil instead of coating your potatoes. Also try to keep the skin on, as most of the good nutrients are kept closest to the skin.

Oven-Baked Wedges: Fat = 6g. There is a huge variation in fat content of pre-packaged chips and wedges, so be sure to compare between brands. Even better, choose to make your own home-made wedges using the spray oil technique. Here is a great recipe for Lime and Chilli Wedges.

Fat Chips from a Fish and Chip Shop: Fat = 9g. Generally the thicker the chip the less fat it will have. But cooking technique, including oil temp and adequate draining can have a huge impact on the fat content of deep fried chips. Some chips can contain up to 20g of fat per serve. Check out which takeaway shops near you are doing their bit to keep your chips the healthiest they can be-Here

Shoestring Fries: Fat = 15g. Thin-cut, shoestring fries and crinkle cut chips have more surface area and less potato than the chunkier versions so they are able to soak up far more fat! Some food outlets now give you a choice, go for the thicker cut varieties and save yourself up to 6 grams of fat per serve.

Potato Chips: Fat= 30g. Definitely not your best option when it comes to cooking and eating the spud. The further away from the paddock it gets and the thinner the chip, the more fat it contains. These can be a good snack option, but use only as a treat and eat them in moderation.

Here are some tips for cooking the best Baked Potato.

What better way to celebrate the start of a new year than taking advantage of the plentiful New Potato. Most of you probably already included these beauties on your Christmas dinner table. But just because the festivities are over doesn’t mean we need to stop chowing down. New Potatoes are a goldmine of nutrients, and with their very brief season we should all be making the most of them!

Let the New Potato help kick start the New Years resolution to get active, eat better and improve your health. Full of good quality carbohydrates they are perfect to fuel that new exercise regime. With close to no fat, they are the perfect light lunch or dinner option. Toss them into a salad with chicken breast, fresh herbs, tomatoes and a balsamic-olive-oil dressing and you will have a quick healthy meal option.

And remember Potatoes don’t need to be complicated. They are so versatile and you can match them up with any meat you have on hand! Bake a batch of chunky wedges for an easy quick afternoon snack and you will have a bunch of very happy kids.

After the over-indulging on all the rich delicious foods over the Christmas period, the potato is your saviour for a satisfying meal in minutes. Go back to your ethnic roots, and try throwing in a few chunks of potato into your next Omelette for a uniquely Spanish twist. For more quick and easy meal ideas the whole family can enjoy, checkout more recipes on our website.

Lets stand up and fight for the bullied spuds

Thanks for this supportive article from The Southland Times. 

Just last month the United States Congress foiled plans to limit the amount of potatoes served in school lunches.

The proposal by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was along the lines that potatoes along with other starchy vegetables like corn, peas and lima beans could only be served in school cafeterias twice a week.

Fortunately sensibilities come to the fore and the department has been prevented from imposing such restrictions.

It seems to me that carbohydrate-rich foods come under attack far too often and, more importantly, unfairly.

Let’s face it, the potato has changed the course of history. It has influenced popular culture and has saved people from starvation.

Even more interesting is to think that in the United States of America, the country where some want to stop potatoes and other carbohydrates being served more than twice a week in school cafeterias, people enjoy Diet Coke as a drink for breakfast!

It is also interesting to note that while potato consumption in the US has been on a decline, the obesity rate hasn’t declined at all.

In fact it has gone in the other direction, indicating that fears about the effect on the potato on health and weight are completely unfounded.

The other point we should remember is that generally potatoes are not eaten in isolation.

Clearly Americans have not embraced the 5+ A Day as Kiwis have, creating a much better-balanced diet than our counterparts in the US.

The potato has not always been seen in this negative light. It was once considered something of a wonder food, grown originally in South America. Its introduction to Europe literally transformed agriculture.

Before its introduction those living in Ireland, England and Continental Europe generally lived off grain, which was inconsistently available in regions with a wet cold climate or rocky soil.

The potato grew in conditions where grains would not and the effect on population was somewhat overwhelming.

“In Switzerland for instance the potato arrived in the early 18th century and you can see over and over again as people started growing potatoes the population grew,” says John Reither, author of The Potato, A History.

“Birth rates rose, infant mortality improved, women became more fecund and all of that can be absolutely attributed to the potato.”

The potato also packs a healthy dose of nutrients. A 100 gram baked potato has very little fat and is one of the richest sources of potassium of any single food in the entire food chain. It is a good source of vitamin C and fibre with just about 100 calories.

More locally a study by researchers of the University of Otago found that when you eat carbohydrates as part of a meal of meat and vegetables, potatoes are not the fat gain ogres that many dieticians claim.

Foods like potatoes and white bread, which have a high glycaemic index (GI), are absorbed quickly by the body, triggering a spike in blood sugar and are often painted as villains for dieters.

At the University of Otago Bernard Venn and his colleagues enlisted 30 healthy young people and monitored the GI levels of three different meals, including one with potatoes as a side dish.

Surprisingly says Dr Venn this meal was low on the GI, meaning the food will burn off slowly even though it contained an ingredient many fear for its potential weight gain properties.

“I don’t think people should be too afraid of putting high-GI foods into their meals,” Dr Venn says.

“Our work suggested having a small amount of potato with a meal isn’t going to drive your blood sugar crazy.”

To me it seems the bigger problem with the potato’s reputation has been caused by them spending far too much time with the wrong crowd.

Potatoes need to spend a lot less time in the fellowship of the deep fryer.

We should not be avoiding any foods that are naturally nutrient rich, low in fat and relatively low in calories.

What we should be doing is finding ways of including other vegetables with the potatoes and putting them alongside other healthful foods, always prepared without an excess of sugar, solid fats or additional calories.

What brought on this urge to recognise the powerful part the potato plays in our diet?

I notice the first of the new seasons potatoes are now available.

Let’s remind ourselves about the simplest way to prepare and present them.

NEW POTATOES WITH MINT - For 4 servings

400g of new potatoes

a good handful of fresh mint

sea salt to taste

75g butter

MethodScrub the new potatoes under running cold water (I find over a colander works well).

Bring a good sized heavy based pot with a generous amount of fresh cold water to the boil.

Add salt and 25g of the butter along with 2/3 of the washed fresh mint.

Place the cleaned potatoes into the boiling water and bring back to the boil as quickly as possible.

Boil until the potatoes just cooked (when a sharp skewer easily penetrates the potato).

Chop the remaining mint. Melt with the remaining butter.

Strain the potatoes, add the minted butter and enjoy.

- The Southland Times

Kiwi men looking for love might want to try a new approach at the supermarket after research shows that nearly nine out of 10 women judge a man’s suitability as a partner on the contents of his shopping trolley.

It’s out with the lager and instant soup and in with new potatoes and red wine according to the UK survey which reveals women take about 10 seconds to assess a man’s income and ability to provide for a family by the contents of his shopping trolley.

Top of the list are red wine (95%) and new potatoes (93%) as the key items that women associate with a man who has a good job.

Potatoes NZ’s Glenda Gourley says women are also obviously looking for a man who lives a healthy lifestyle and can look after himself.

“New potatoes taste so good and are easy to cook so it’s not a surprise that they are at the top of the list. I would be very interested to see if New Zealand women feel the same way, and we may look to conduct our own research in the near future.”

New potatoes, which are in full season now, are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and contain more potassium than bananas.

To clarify any confusion about what defines a new potato, Glenda recommends looking out for “a young potato which has skin so soft that you can flick it off with your finger”.

Fresh fruit and vegetables in general were also viewed positively by women, with apples and cucumbers topping the list of items associated with a man who would make a good father.

However, 86% of women surveyed thought instant soup showed that a man was lazy and 80% that he had a poor job and salary.

The potato industry is looking to repeat this research in New Zealand to verify that new potatoes impress the Kiwi fairer sex as much as their British counterparts.