A Prison Meal That Changed History
When Antoine-Augustin Parmentier was captured by Prussian forces during the Seven Years’ War, he was forced to eat what the French called hog feed: potatoes. The tuber, brought from South America centuries earlier, was banned in France since 1748 for allegedly causing leprosy.
Yet in Prussian captivity, Parmentier discovered that the potato was safe and nourishing. This experience would later drive him to champion the vegetable that helped feed a hungry nation.
From Prisoner to Potato Advocate
Returning to Paris in 1763, Parmentier became a pharmacist and researcher dedicated to food and nutrition. In 1772, he entered a competition held by the Academy of Besançon to find new foods for the poor. His essay promoting the potato as a nutritious option won the prize in 1773.
That same year, the Paris Faculty of Medicine officially declared the potato edible. Despite this victory, Parmentier still faced strong opposition and even lost his position at the Invalides hospital after the landowners objected to his potato experiments.
Turning Skeptics into Believers
To change public opinion, Parmentier turned to showmanship. He organized lavish dinners featuring potato dishes, inviting notable guests such as Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier. He presented bouquets of potato flowers to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.
To spark curiosity, he surrounded his potato fields at Sablons with guards during the day, only to remove them at night so that curious Parisians would “steal” the plants. His tactics worked. By 1785, when poor harvests struck northern France, potatoes helped prevent famine.
A Nation Embraces the Tuber
In 1789, Parmentier published Treatise on the Culture and Use of the Potato, Sweet Potato, and Jerusalem Artichoke, officially printed by order of the king. The endorsement marked the potato’s rise as a legitimate food for the people. By 1794, France’s first potato cookbook, La Cuisinière Républicaine, was published, encouraging its use in everyday meals.
Parmentier continued researching ways to improve food preservation, breadmaking, and sugar extraction from beets. Appointed Inspector-General of the Health Service under Napoleon, he also helped organize France’s first mandatory smallpox vaccination campaign.
The Name That Lives in French Cuisine
Antoine-Augustin Parmentier died in 1813 and was buried in Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery, surrounded by potato plants. Over time, French cuisine honored him with dishes bearing his name, such as hachis Parmentier, soupe Parmentier, and purée Parmentier. His efforts transformed the potato from prison rations into one of Europe’s most important staple foods.
A war prisoner once ate the food his country despised.
Antoine-Augustin Parmentier tasted potatoes in a Prussian cell and learned they were not poison but nourishment.
When he returned to France, he made it his mission to turn the hated tuber into the nation’s salvation…🧵 pic.twitter.com/qi7DXIlHPT
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) November 13, 2025