The New Nation - Internet Edition

Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka is committed to offer new and exciting experiences to the society. As a part of this commitment, the hotel is now offering food promotion called "Potato Feast".

The Potato Feast will continue upto 22 April. Guests may enjoy potato feast at Water Garden Brasserie restaurant at Level 1 of the hotel dinner. Diners at the week-long food promotion will also get a chance to win a "weekend package" that includes one night stay for a couple with dinner and breakfast! The initiative was taken to popularise use of potato and to showcase various local and international recipes that can be prepared from potato. The United Nations also declared 2008 as the International Year of the Potato to raise awareness of the importance of the potato in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment. The reason behind this promotion is to display different flavours of potato. Even though potato is quite familiar to us in Bangladesh, potatoes are not as widely used as it could be. Throughout this week, the chefs of Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka are going to prepare some delicious potato-based cuisines from all over the world, a feast as colourful as spring. Up to 140 potato-based dishes are being offered at promotion. Potato items range from delicious salads, tantalising main course to mouthwatering desserts. There is also a live cooking station so that the guests can watch the chef prepare the culinary delights. All the recipes that are showcased at the Potato Feast are very easy to prepare and the ingredients are available everywhere.

Not only are potatoes great in taste, they are one of the most nutritious foods one can eat. One might be surprised to know that a medium-sized potato has fewer calories than a grapefruit. They are rich in carbohydrates, with highest protein content in the family of root and tuber crops and also very rich in vitamin C - a single medium-sized potato contains about half the recommended daily intake - and contain a fifth of the recommend daily value of potassium.

Potatoes are grown worldwide. The first potato has its roots in the windswept Andes Mountains of South America. Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe: today potatoes are grown on an estimated 195 000 sq km, or 75000 square miles, of farmland, from China's Yunnan plateau and the sub-tropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine. In terms of sheer quantity harvested, the humble potato tuber is the world's No.4 food crop, with production in 2007 of more than 320 million tonnes (about 353 million US tons). More than half of that total was harvested in developing countries.