This native of the Americas has blended remarkably with all things Indian

The potato’s place is sacrosanct in India, which is actually appropriate considering the ‘foreign’ tuber arrived from another continent whose people were erroneously deemed to be Indians. There is nary a dish in India that is not enhanced by the addition of the starchy vegetable, and it has effortlessly insinuated itself into an astounding number of indigenous dishes. Little wonder then that desi politicians with aspirations to permanent relevance and adaptability liken themselves to — and rhyme their names with — the aloo. However, India’s mastery over the potato is seriously challenged by news emanating that back in 1985, the then-first lady of the USSR Raisa Gorbacheva sent over a Belarusian cookbook to the then-British agriculture minister with an incredible 500 recipes using the humble spud.

But the subtext of this recipes exchange is even more significant, as Mrs Gorbacheva wrote, “I would like to think that all this will help the cause of mutual understanding, trust and cooperation between the peoples of our countries.” The soft power potential of the omnipresent potato so cleverly highlighted should be a no-brainer for hard-boiled statesmen who may want to curry favour with diverse cultures. US President Barack Obama might consider digging some up himself, before heading to India later this month.