VORONEZH, Central Russia -- Call it the stud of spuds, or the champagne of potatoes. And if you travel to Voronezh, bring a big sack.


Russians everywhere take their potatoes seriously, but folks in this fertile region in Russia's black earth zone, 500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, are particularly proud of their tubers, and will take it as an insult if you do not bring 50 kilograms or so back home with you.


"Russian cuisine has few things that one might call 'delicatessen,'" said native Voronezhite Maria Klyuchevtseva as she stuffed her sack with spuds. "We believe our potato is, perhaps, one of them."


But people here did not always feel that way.


When Peter the Great decided he would grow potatoes in Russia, he selected the Voronezh region for its fertile soil and ideal growing conditions, according to Viktor Tkachuk, a self-styled purveyor of potato lore and the deputy editor of Voronezh Kuryer, the local newpaper, .


The population willingly did as their tsar commanded and promptly ran into a little problem.


Peter had issued a specific decree on how to grow and prepare potatoes, which he referred to in the edict as "apples of the earth."


As a growing tip, the monarch had suggested farmers harvest their apples when the buds begin to bloom. But no one told the peasants which part the apples were.


"They tried everything: the stalk, flowers and leaves of their potato plants -- everything but the roots -- and promptly grew ill," Tkachuk said.


In protest and disgust, angry peasants tossed the offending crops into carts and burned them.


When the flames died down, all that remained were the charred roots. Someone took a bite and the rest is history.


In the mid-1800s, Tsar Nicholas I had to send troops against a rebellion in the Volga and Ural regions. Farmers there were protesting forced potato growing.


But by this time, in contrast, the Voronezhites had settled down quite nicely with yearly bumper crops.


The reason for the potato's success here is not just the rich, black earth, said Sergei Murkhotov, who is a lecturer at the Voronezh Agricultural Institute.


What makes Voronezh potatoes special, particularly in the northern part of the region, he says, is an ideal growing climate with just the right humidity.


"You have to water the potato on time," Murkhotov said.


"Here, the Lord takes care of that for us."


Voronezh potatoes are so good that you can eat them complete with the skin, but don't think that means they will be served to you that way.


It seems that Tsar Peter, in his instructions, also left out the part about where the vitamins are.


"Vitamins? Yes, I've heard there are some kind of vitamins in the skin," said farmer and Agricultural Institute graduate Alexander Khodayev.


"But around here, we just peel it off, Russian style, and fry 'em up."