Potatoes are sometimes disparaged in terms of nutrition, but they are actually a good source of carbohydrates and dietary fibre. They also provide vitamins C and B6, and contain more potassium than a banana.

It’s a myth that all a potato’s nutrients are in the skin.

While the skin does contain about half of the vegetable’s total dietary fibre, the majority of nutrients are found within the potato itself.

Provided it’s not deep-fried or loaded with toppings, a single serving of potatoes has just 110 calories, which makes it filling without being too heavy.

Keep potatoes in a well-ventilated, cool, dark environment, such as a pantry. There is no need to refrigerate potatoes. Excessively cold storage, such as a fridge, can convert potato starches to sugars that will cause them to brown too quickly when cooking.

Warm environments encourage potatoes to sprout and prolonged exposure to light can turn them green and bitter-tasting, which can even be toxic in large amounts.

Pick the right potato for your dish. There may be more than 4,000 varieties, but they fall into three major categories of composition and usage:

• Floury potatoes are best for baking, mashing, frying, roasting and making potato chips. The best varieties for this are Coliban and King Edward.

• Waxy potatoes are high in moisture and low in starch. They retain their shape throughout boiling and are excellent for salads, soups and casseroles. The best varieties for this are Bintje, Dutch Cream, Nadine, Nicola, Kipfler and Pink Eye.

• All-rounder potatoes can be used for just about everything and include the trusty Desiree, Golden Delight, Pontiac, Royal Blue and Sebago.

Oversalting sauces or soups can ruin a dish, but you can save these liquids by adding a cleaned, peeled potato to the mix. It will absorb some of the excess salt. Simmer the combo for 15 minutes or until the desired saltiness is reached. Afterward, you can add the salty potato to the mix or discard it.

Potatoes are the third most important crop on Earth, after rice and wheat. The global harvest exceeds 300 million metric tons per year. In fact, in 2018 alone, HelloFresh shipped over 24.7 million orders of potatoes worldwide!

Potatoes were the first food grown in space. The American space shuttle Columbia transported potatoes into orbit, where astronauts tested to see if they would develop. The research is to be applied to future astro-missions, on which potatoes could be a renewable food source that will feed space travellers on long journeys.