One cannot imagine Indian cuisine without aloo (potato in Hindi) chholey, aloo mutter, aloo bonda, aloo chaat. Hard to believe that all this came about in the recent ~450 years(sometime after Pizarro showed up in Peru in 1532) of India’s more than 7000 year history.

via USATODAY.com
The origin of the potato has become, well, a “hot potato” between neighbors Peru and Chile.

The spud dispute began Monday, when Chilean Agriculture Minister Marigen Hornkohl said 99% of the world’s potatoes derive from spuds native to Chile.

Peru, where the potato is a source of national pride, bristled at the claim and said the comes from a part of the Andes near Lake Titicaca, most of which is located in modern-day Peru. The country claims to have some 3,000 varieties of potato.

The spud dispute is just the latest flare-up between the testy neighbors.