Peru's potato passion goes global

At harvest time in the highland village of Paucho, the first crop of potatoes are baked in a hole in the ground covered with hot rocks, in a ceremony called Watia - a homage to Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth.

For thousands of years, the potato has been the staple diet of the people of the Andes. It was first cultivated on the Altiplano of modern-day Peru and Bolivia, and Peru still has some 2,800 varieties of potato, more than any other country.

Like many people, I took the humble spud for granted, but after the launch of the UN Year of the Potato in Ayacucho in the Peruvian Andes, I am repentant at my lack of reverence for the third biggest food staple in the world.

I have never seen a vegetable invoke such high passions and poetry.