The Canada Potato

The jicama is often referred to as the “Mexico potato,” but there is another vegetable that is called the “Canada Potato,” and it has a long history–both revered and reviled–that goes back hundreds of years; to the origins of the country itself, in fact.

I once received a phone call from a reader in Gadshill, just north of Stratford, who tipped me off that she had patches of them growing in her backyard. That was enough for me to investigate.

Sir Walter Raleigh has noted it and Lewis and Clark lived off of it with the Mandan people during their treks and peregrinations. The Italians added to its poetic naming and Americans used it to try to whip up a replacement for fossil fuel for automobiles. There is even a connection to Brazilian cannibals.

Find out more about the Canada Potato in this Friday’s Kitchener Post newspaper.