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The recipes include a poignant mash of cooked potatoes combined with minced meat and herbs, fried into delicious balls—essentially a meat and potato dish wrapped into a single serving. This reflected a broader culinary trend of combining readily available ingredients for satisfying, hearty meals amidst the fervor of revolution.
A Favorable Twist of Fate
To understand the context of potatoes' rising popularity, we must explore their dire beginnings in France. Potatoes were imported from the Americas in the 16th century and initially deemed suspect at best—linked with leprosy and denounced as food for pigs. By the late 1700s, fears about their safety led France to ban their cultivation, and for many, they remained unthinkable as a food source.