"Extra chips"

"What could be more ordinary than a plate of chips ?

Whether they are thick or thin, crispy or soggy, we rarely pay attention to their magic. Ketchup, mayo. The idea of seeing in the chip an inspiring creature, worthy of admiration, seems rather far-fetched. And no one would dream of revering mere spuds as the peoples of former times did with the chicken and so many other creatures.

And yet, the potato carries a magic formula within it. A key to harmony and perfection is inscribed like a secret code on the beige parchment of its skin. By putting its "jacket" back on (« robe des champs ») , the spud displays the answer to a riddle that philosophers, artists and prophets have striven to solve. To read its code, you have to look it in the eyes. 

The "eyes"  are those black dots that are so hard to remove when peeling the tuber. They are in fact buds ; this is where the plant's shoots will grow. 

Let's look the spud in the face . For it does have a face : the end where its eyes are closest together. The potato grows from this side. At the other end, it was attached to the stem that nourished it, as shown by a little navel-shaped scar. One end linked to the past, the other turned towards the future. 

Let us contemplate the future end, for that is where the secret code lies. The message is well hidden, but a perceptive observer will notice that, on our spud, the eyes are not scattered at random. They follow one another like clues. 

Let's follow them. The most recent eye is right at the tip of the potato. It has just formed. Its elder, only slightly older, is a little further along the side. The one before that is further apart still... If you join the eyes in the order in which they appeared, a strange pattern emerges. It forms a long spiral, astonishingly regular, with absolutely perfect proportions.

Architects will recognise the helix of the staircases at Chambord, the dimensions of the pediment of the Parthenon or of the Pyramid of Khufu. Art lovers will find the same proportions in the face of the Mona Lisa and in the canvases of Botticelli. Ages of masterpieces whose creators spent inspiration and perspiration in search of a harmonious form, when all they had to do was follow the instructions of the spud ! 

If you measured the potato with a protractor, you would notice that between one eye, the tip of the tuber, and the eye that follows it there is an angle of exactly 137.5°. This is the golden angle, a value whose mathematical properties give rise to harmony and beauty. The spiral formed by following this angle keeps the same appearance whether you look at it from close up or from afar. It gives us a glimpse of infinity, particularly pleasing to the human eye. Artists and mathematicians have revered it since time immemorial. 

We now know that the potato follows this golden rule to optimise the arrangement of its future leaves. Thanks to this arrangement of the buds, the foliage will capture a maximum of sunlight. In seeking the light, the spud has found beauty. 

So let us be indulgent towards restaurateurs who leave the potato skins on the chips, even if, like me, you think they taste better peeled. On that skin, we can make out eyes that wink at us ; with them, we bite into a piece of the beauty of the world. And even two, if the chips were fried in sunflower oil. For Van Gogh can attest to it : on sunflower heads, the seeds, too, are arranged according to the golden angle..."

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