Edit: you can downvote me but you’re still incorrect. It isn’t vague and potato is objectively not a vegetable. Same goes for grains like wheat, corn, and rice.
Culinarily, you can define vegetables using the basic food groups. Grains and starches are a distinct group and not part of the vegetable food group, despite the fact that they come from plants. It is easy to see that not all food that is plant-based is, culinarily, a “vegetable” when you consider things like fruits and nuts, which people have no trouble distinguishing from vegetables.
And yes, many things we culinarily consider vegetables actually fall under the scientific definition of fruit, and some “fruits” do not fall under that definition.
I think the distinction you’re thinking of is when something is milled. Wheat is milled into flour. Rice is milled to remove the husks. Corn is milled into meal. At that point you’re not eating the plant, you’re eating a processed plant product. Of those three, corn is the only one that can really be eaten as-is, so perhaps the distinction of when it’s a grain or a vegetable is more about if it was dried and milled first.
But all of that seems unrelated to potatoes, which are roots. You can make bread out of potatoes, and I don’t think anyone would try to argue that potato bread somehow counts as a vegetable. But a potato on its own, minimally processed and eaten relatively whole, seems to fit the definition of a vegetable by most definitions, culinary or otherwise.
You’re also dumb and wrong from the very loose culinary definition btw, potatoes aren’t a grain, they fall under the “root VEGETABLE” category along with beets, carrots, onions etc…
So you might be arguing with the wrong person if you want to pull culinary technicalities. When I open my copy of Escoffier Le Guide Culinaire to page 498 I find Potatoes listed in the vegetables section
But wait, let me check my copy of Jaques Pepins Complete Techniques ah, okay, on page 323 he describes potatoes as “a versatile vegetable”.
Maybe The Joy of Cooking? Ah, here, on page 245, under vegetables, and a root vegetable puree recipe featuring potatoes. Fascinating…
I’m afraid I don’t have a copy of the CIA textbook currently though I’m fixing that soon, and my Japanese cooking technique textbooks don’t specifically categorize potatoes. Want me to get back to you when I can borrow a copy of Modernist Cuisine from my chef friend?
See this is why you’re arguing with everyone and coming across as (at best) a troll — you’ve defined your position to be correct, which of course means in your world you cannot possibly be wrong.
“Starch” isn’t a plant categorization at all, stupid. In fact, pretty much any source you can find will tell you potatoes are classified as a vegetable, and while most veggies are lower in starch, a great many are considered starchy vegetables, Including peas. A vegetable having starch in it doesn’t make it a starch. That’s like calling Cabbage a fiber instead of a vegetable, because it has a bunch in it.
the definition of vegetable is very vague. anything from a plant can be vegetable.
i personally prefer using words like root, leaves, fruits and nuts, but strawberries put that to the test
Is bread a vegetable because it is made of wheat?
Edit: you can downvote me but you’re still incorrect. It isn’t vague and potato is objectively not a vegetable. Same goes for grains like wheat, corn, and rice.
Just curious, what would you define as a vegetable?
Culinarily, you can define vegetables using the basic food groups. Grains and starches are a distinct group and not part of the vegetable food group, despite the fact that they come from plants. It is easy to see that not all food that is plant-based is, culinarily, a “vegetable” when you consider things like fruits and nuts, which people have no trouble distinguishing from vegetables.
And yes, many things we culinarily consider vegetables actually fall under the scientific definition of fruit, and some “fruits” do not fall under that definition.
Starches are just something a vegetable has, though, not something they are. Like protein and fiber.
If you exclude anything with starch from being vegetables, you’re also excluding beans, squash, lentils, carrots, peas, parsnips, corn, etc.
Corn is not a vegetable, it is grain. Is rice a vegetable? No.
I think the distinction you’re thinking of is when something is milled. Wheat is milled into flour. Rice is milled to remove the husks. Corn is milled into meal. At that point you’re not eating the plant, you’re eating a processed plant product. Of those three, corn is the only one that can really be eaten as-is, so perhaps the distinction of when it’s a grain or a vegetable is more about if it was dried and milled first.
But all of that seems unrelated to potatoes, which are roots. You can make bread out of potatoes, and I don’t think anyone would try to argue that potato bread somehow counts as a vegetable. But a potato on its own, minimally processed and eaten relatively whole, seems to fit the definition of a vegetable by most definitions, culinary or otherwise.
You’re also dumb and wrong from the very loose culinary definition btw, potatoes aren’t a grain, they fall under the “root VEGETABLE” category along with beets, carrots, onions etc…
Never did I claim that a potato is a grain. Culinarily, I am correct.
So you might be arguing with the wrong person if you want to pull culinary technicalities. When I open my copy of Escoffier Le Guide Culinaire to page 498 I find Potatoes listed in the vegetables section
But wait, let me check my copy of Jaques Pepins Complete Techniques
ah, okay, on page 323 he describes potatoes as “a versatile vegetable”.
Maybe The Joy of Cooking? Ah, here, on page 245, under vegetables, and a root vegetable puree recipe featuring potatoes. Fascinating…
I’m afraid I don’t have a copy of the CIA textbook currently though I’m fixing that soon, and my Japanese cooking technique textbooks don’t specifically categorize potatoes. Want me to get back to you when I can borrow a copy of Modernist Cuisine from my chef friend?
Enjoy eating a baked potato and thinking you’ve had your serving of veggies for the day.
Oh, are we moving the goalposts to nutrition? Because here’s some info about STARCHY VS NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/starchy-vs-non-starchy-vegetables#definition
It’s where the goalpost has always been. Food is about nutrition, see my other comment where I define vegetables based on food groups
A potato objectively is not a vegetable, culinarily
See this is why you’re arguing with everyone and coming across as (at best) a troll — you’ve defined your position to be correct, which of course means in your world you cannot possibly be wrong.
I am curious what your define it as, because you’ve ruled out vegetable and grain.
It is a starch
“Starch” isn’t a plant categorization at all, stupid. In fact, pretty much any source you can find will tell you potatoes are classified as a vegetable, and while most veggies are lower in starch, a great many are considered starchy vegetables, Including peas. A vegetable having starch in it doesn’t make it a starch. That’s like calling Cabbage a fiber instead of a vegetable, because it has a bunch in it.
I’m speaking culinarily
You’re speaking stupidly.