Dine/dump: Lad pretends he’s never heard of potatoes to GF’s parents

Jan 10, 2019

Viral dating stories are a dime a dozen on the internet, with tales of epic fails and romantic gestures gone wrong fleetingly capturing our interest during a Twitter scroll before we move on.

However, we discovered one story that we just can't seem to shake off the thought of. Perhaps it's because it involves the beloved carbohydrate staple, the potato, or maybe it's just because it's so iconically ridiculous, but Reddit user NotKnowPotato shared his tale of turmoil and frankly we are grateful.

Mr NotKnow, who created a throwaway account to share the story, detailed how he decided he wanted to impress his new girlfriend's parents with his comedic skills when he first met them.

He was invited to join his GF and her family for dinner, and thought it would be gas to pretend that he had never eaten potatoes before.

When a platter of baked potatoes was brought to the dining table, he began to feign ignorance to the starchy vegetable.

'I was like "A 'potato', oh interesting. Never heard of a potato, looks pretty good,' he wrote, posting in the Today I F*cked Up section of the forum site.

However, his joke didn't land at all, and things began going downhill rather quickly.

'They asked me, VERY incredulous, did I really not know what a potato is? That I never heard of a potato. I went with it and told them, yes, I did not ever even hear of a potato.'

'Not only had I never eaten a potato I had never heard the word potato.'

His girlfriend quickly grew embarrassed at his actions, and when he took his "first bite" of a spud and 'made a high pitched noise and said "Taste's very strange,"' his girlfriend left the table.

'Well let me tell you I had to commit 100% at this point. When I would not admit to knowing what a potato was, the father especially began to get annoyed,' he continued.

'At one point he said something like "Enough is enough. You're f*cking with us. Admit it." And I said "Sir, before today I never heard of a potato. I still don't know what a potato is, other than some kind of food. I don't know what to tell you."'

The dinner culminated in Mr NotKnow being booted from the house: 'Finally the father said I should "Get the f*ck out of his house" and I said it was irrational to treat me like this just because I never heard of a potato before. Well let me tell you he didn't take that kindly.'

'Now in text messages I have been telling my girlfriend I really don't know what a potato is. The only way I can ever get out of this is for them to buy that I don't know what a potato is.'

Fellow Reddit users have contributed their advice to the potato separatist.

'Invite your girlfriend to meet your parents. Have your father take her aside and ask if potatoes were served at the dinner with her parents. When she says yes, he looks alarmed, mutters something about "wanting to keep them from him" and never mentions the subject again,' wrote one.

'Send them a bouquet of potatoes as an apology,' suggested another.

Seriously, what would you do if your significant other pulled this joke on your family or friends?

Yes, it’s actually a thing! Ireland to host World Potato Conference 2021

Uniquely Irish

Mar 22, 2018

by Rebecca O'Keeffe

We're coming up in the world… of potatoes.

The Irish Potato Federation, with the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Bord Bia, Fáilte Ireland and Teagasc has won the bid to host the World Potato Congress (WPC) in 2021 in Dublin.

Yes, that is a real thing, and we feel strangely proud.

At today’s launch in the RDS, Andrew Doyle T.D., Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said: “I am delighted to be able to announce this good news for Ireland in the RDS, which will be the congress venue for the 2021 World Potato Congress. I want my Department and Bord Bia to continue to work with the Irish Potato Federation to make this event a great success for the Irish food industry.”

The faithful leader of the Irish Potato Federation, Michael Hoey, said: “Winning the World Potato Congress for Ireland is the culmination of a lot of hard and creative work by a very dedicated committee and I know that the 2021 Congress will shine a spotlight on the importance of the potato in Ireland and across the globe and become a centerpiece of world-class marketing excellence.”

The President and CEO of World Potato Congress Inc., Romain Cools, (that name though!) said:

“Ireland has a very important historical and cultural connection with the potato going back hundreds of years." Yes we do hun, it was called famine.

"I see the 2021 Congress looking at the important role the potato will play in the future as a sustainable source for food security across the world.

The World Potato Congress in Dublin will be the perfect follow up to this year’s congress which will be held in May 2018 in Cuzco, Peru, under the title: ‘Biodiversity, food security and business’. I will be working closely with the Irish Potato Federation over the coming years and really look forward to visiting Dublin in 2021 for the Congress.”

Paul Mockler, Head of Commercial Development in Fáilte Ireland said: “We have been working with the Irish Potato Federation since 2015 on this conference which illustrates the hard work and advance pitching necessary to successfully win such events. Fáilte Ireland is delighted that the Irish Potato Federation was able to secure this conference for Dublin in 2021."

"The work and dedication of the local Organising Committee, supported by our own Dublin Convention Bureau, delivers a real economic benefit to this country, with this event alone worth €1.7 million.”

It is envisaged that 1,000 delegates, from developing and developed countries across the globe, including growers, researchers, producers, traders, processors and manufacturers, will attend the Congress.

The Irish Potato Federation has also secured the simultaneous hosting of the Europatat Congress, which is the annual congress of the European association of the potato trade. Both events will become a week-long focus on the potato, the third most important food crop in terms of global consumption.

Today Ireland is widely known as The Food Island, producing food to the highest standard which is exported around the world and Ireland is setting new standards in terms of food innovation. With a long tradition of involvement in agriculture dating back to the 18th century, the RDS, Ballsbridge, will be a fitting venue for the WPC and Europatat conference in 2021.

The RDS was established in 1731 and is one of world’s oldest philanthropic organisations. The RDS is dedicated to seeing Ireland thrive both culturally and economically and works to see this happen through science, the arts, agriculture, enterprise and equestrianism. This ethos mirrors the aim of the Irish Potato Federation for 2021 when it will analyse and explore "The Changing World of the Potato."

Would you eat ONLY potatoes for 30 days? This slimmer swears by it

Feb 3, 2016

by Amber Saunders

Could this be the most Irish cleanse ever? We think so.

One woman has embarked on a 30-day potato diet, after reaping the benefits of a high-carb lifestyle to help with weight loss.

Hannah Howlett, 29, dropped around 60lbs over just one year by changing her lifestyle and switching to a carb-heavy menu. Now she's taking things one step further and vowing to only eat potato-based meals for an entire month.

The Minnesota woman's high-carb eating plan is based around Dr. John McDougall's diet, The Starch Solution, which involves eating rice, potatoes and porridge in their "least processed state."

Speaking in July 2014, before her massive weight loss, Hannah explained how alien her body felt to her.

"It is just so uncomfortable to even be at this point, like even be alive. I have gained so much weight in such a short period of time that I don't even recognise myself," she said.

Now Hannah is more in tune with her body and her eating habits, and only eats "intuitively," meaning she starts when hungry and stops when full.

"I actually think that it is so funny how people make loss into such a big industry because it is so easy if you just eat a whole foods plant based diet like you don't need to do anything ridiculous," she says.

As part of her new potato cleanse, Hannah can eat spuds cooked various ways – from baked chips to grilled hash browns. She can also use sugar and spices, oil-free condiments like ketchup, and non-starching vegetables like courgette and broccoli.

A photo posted by Hannah Howlett (@highcarbhannah) on Jan 27, 2016 at 7:07am PST

Eight days in, she says she's lost 3lbs, plus eight inches from around her hips and thighs.

Follow her adventures over on her Instagram page, High Carb Hannah.

OMG! This hack proves we’ve all been peeling potatoes WRONG

Nov 12, 2015

by Amber Saunders

The humble spud has been a dinner plate staple for as long as we can remember.

Some days all we want to eat is just a giant plate of chips and live a carb-filled life of no regrets. Other days mashed potatoes are what we really need. Yum.

So, potatoes are great and we love them dearly. However, peeling them is not something that we enjoy doing to be honest.

However, thanks to this handy tutorial our days spent hovering over the sink getting wrinkled fingers and pieces of potato skin everywhere are no more!

Yes, it turns out that we have all been peeling spuds the wrong way but this method is about to change your life.

You don’t even need any fancy utensils! As long as you have a knife then you can basically just pull off the skin.

Think of all the time we can save with this. We love it, and we think everyone should give it try at least once. Christmas dinner prep is going to be much easier now.

You can see the hack in action in Foody Tube’s video below:

WATCH: This new way to peel potatoes will blow your mind

Oct 27, 2015

by Amber Saunders

We all know Irish people love nothing more than a lovely potato in our dinner, but getting them ready isn't always the easiest and can often be a pain in the backside.

Whether you choose to peel them pre- or post-boil, it's only a long and painstaking process that nobody really wants to do.

But now YouTube channel, Foody Tube, that posts handy cooking tutorials, shared their latest video called Amazing Potato Peeling Trick that will make you change the way you peel spuds forever.

This may be a game changer, ladies.

S! TV VIRAL: Did you spend ages peeling potatoes today?

Jun 29, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Peeling potatoes for your Sunday roast takes up so much time, but what if there was a quicker and easier way to do it? Leo Morten Lund has found a way to peel potatoes in less than a minute and all you need is a drill and toilet brush. Check out the video to see how it works.