The Sprightly Spud

An article expressing my very deep love for the humble spud.

I’m a carbs gal, and I’m not ashamed of it.

What’s more, in my opinion, potatoes are the queens (or King Edwards, you could say) of this food group, and asuperb fuel source for all my sporting endeavours. So, I’ve collated 4 key reasons why we should all be eating more of them.

1. They’re cheap

If you haven’t been hit by the cost of living crisis, then quite frankly, who are you? And what job do you do because I want it! This means that more and more of us are trying to economise in every way possible. As of September, I will be living life on a student budget, so making any little savings I can is particularly important at the moment.

In Asda*, the cheapest way to get your spud fix is seemingly with a good old jacket. Four baking potatoes are priced at £0.65, so if one is enough four you, partnered with half a tin of ‘just essentials’ baked beans, and a serving of Asda’s just essential grated cheddar, this tasty concoction totals up to around £0.47 per serving, or £4.01 for all the ingredients. This would also leave you with around 380g of grated cheese to use in any way you desired.

It’s no secret amongst my friends and family that my personal calorific needs are pretty astronomical for a gal of my size. Therefore, I’m a two potato kind of gal and my unfortunate lactose intolerance means I tend to choose a pricier cheese, with my favourite being Eat Lean Grated Mature. My additional energy and dietary needs would mean the above combination came to £3.20 in total, and £1.60 per serving, with just one portion of cheese remaining.

Given my aforementioned large appetite, I thought it would be interesting to calculate the calorie efficiency of this meal. Coming to around 770 yummy units of energy, this means I would be getting about 4.8 cals for every penny, as well as 46g of protein – this seems like a certified snatch to me.

So, depending on your topping choices, the jackets are definitely a win.

An alternative affordable combo, and one of my personal favourites, is the humble tin of tatties. A can of new potatoes in Asda would cost one £0.38, and give you 196 calories in return. The added benefit of this form of spud is that someone else has done the cooking, saving you energy and electricity. A thrifty lunch of tuna, potatoes, and tinned peas would be £1.68, contain 442 calories, and be perfectly adequate to fuel those gym gains – at a stinking 50.5g of protein. So although the calories per penny calculation for this meal isn’t as impressive as the double jacket situation (at 2.6 cals per penny), in terms of protein, it’s mighty impressive.

Furthermore, with energy costs soaring, one baked potato cooked in the oven would add an approximated £0.68 to the price of your meal, giving our pre-cooked variety another cost advantage. Of course, the more potatoes you bung in the oven at once, the lower the energy cost per meal will be. Bulk baking is your friend.

I didn’t even know tinned potatoes were a thing until a few months ago, but the above stats mean they are definitely not to be avoided, particularly as all the nutrients are preserved through the canning process. Don’t turn your nose up at tins!

It’s important to note that although basic potato varieties are extremely affordable, many supermarkets have tried to manipulate the spud into a premium, higher priced good. A pack of Waitrose ‘No.1 Dauphinoise Potatoes’, are priced at the extortionate £3.85, just for a side!

So, tatties are cheap – if you can avoid the temptation of some added butter and cream.

*other supermarkets are available

2. They’re healthy

Carb fiends unite! Potatoes have nutritional benefits too, as well as being a stunning source of energy.

One medium baked potato, including the skin, provides one with a myriad of essential vitamins and minerals, including 28% of the adults recommended daily intake of vitamin C, which is vital in boosting our immune system resilience.

Furthermore, at just 0.2 grams of fat, the humble baked spud is certifiably lean. However, inevitably there are ‘better’ and ‘worse’ ways to snack of them than others.

That whole sharing bag of Walkers Salt & Vinegar (any other flavour is definitely inferior), has a grand total of 770 calories and 44.5g of fat. So, everything in moderation and all, but daily consumption of this quantity of crisps is probably not advisable for most.

In terms of the healthiest way to chef up your taters, baking them in skin comes up top – as this preserves their 3.8g of fibre, which is a huge contributor to digestive heath. Air frying is also a solid choice (and an energy efficient one), allowing for a crispy potato, using minimal oil and still preserving all the nutrients.

Surprisingly, boiling may not be as healthy as you’d think, as this cooking method leaves those lovely little balls of goodness vulnerable to losing some of their water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C and potassium. So, although not a ‘bad’ way of preparing them, in terms of nutritional maximisation, it’s probably not superior.

Of course, what we add to our potatoes has an impact on their nutritional value too. A buttery, creamy mash, or a deep fried pub chip will be higher in fat. It is possible to lighten up those fattier recipes though, by adding low fat Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise to potato salad, or, once again, using the trusty air fryer to cook chips.

Overall, the phrase ‘everything in moderation’ is key here in my opinion. Don’t deprive yourself of Nana’s 90% double cream mashed potatoes with your Sunday roast – life’s too short, and it still has vitamin C.

3. They’re flipping tasty

Comfort food comes in many forms – chocolate, cake, chicken nuggets… POTATOES.

Personally, my favourite way to eat a spud is an air fried tin of potatoes, with various seasonings and spices, as well as heaps of salt and vinegar – dreamy. Many people, however, would identify that soft yet crispy Maccies French fry as the ideal tatty.

I am no scientist, but apparently there is a real chemical reason for this, which I will don my lab coat and goggles to explain…

Using google.

‘Ask Dr Universe’, states that;

“The Maillard reaction is a reaction in potatoes that happens between glucose, a kind of sugar, and amino acids, the building blocks of protein”.

This apparently alters the flavours and odours of potatoes, meaning that when we stick them in the deep fat fryer, the high cooking temperature makes the spuds taste even more spectacular than usual.

This seems believable to me, but I’m no expert, so have linked the full article below.

Why are French fries so good?

Aside from the science, I think many British people have a very positive association with potatoes. I have warm memories of my late Nana’s Sunday Dinners. Burning hot plates heaped with impeccably crispy roasties, followed by afternoons dozing on her sofa, fill me with a unique glowing feeling. I’m sure a lot of people have similar experiences, and therefore our love of the spud may be deeper rooted into our psychology than flavour alone.

4. Versatility

Ahh yes, the humble spud is multipurpose AF in my opinion. Mash it, fry it, bake it, paint with it, chew on it raw if your heart desires. The fact that one ingredient can be turned into so many different, unique, and diverse outputs is fantastic. It also means you could eat potatoes every day, and have a completely different taste experience.

Overall, I think potatoes are one of our most overlooked carb sources – bread can do one, tatties are natural gluten free, and British too. I bloody love them.