Re:Oh, great (Score 2)

I can't think of a civilization which has had the potato for more than a hundred years and hasn't figured out to shred and fry it. As far as I know, this practice begins in ancient Persia. However, since you're pretending to be familiar with Swiss food, let's go for Rösti, which are a thousand years old. Latke are two thousand years old, and in some cultures the potato is only riced, leaving what amounts to a potato pancake (which, amusingly, is what the Dutch have called them for 500 years.) The Irish do it, the Italians do it, the Carthagensians do it, even the Canadians do it, and the Canadians don't even have fire.

I'm confused, weren't potatoes unknown outside the New World until they were brought back from the Americas by the Spanish? That would be in the 1400s, but not one or two thousand years ago...