Sweet Potatoes: I Yam

What I Yam

Wild sweet potatoes have been traced back to the caves of Peru before 8000 B.C. Christopher Columbus ate sweet potatoes when he landed in the Haitian Islands in 1492. The Haitians called them “batantas.” Then around 1537 Europeans accidentally transferred the name to “potato.” And that bit of confusion persists today.

Oh yes, and to add to the perplexity, sweet potatoes are sometimes referred to as yams. The true yam is native to many African countries but it is not remotely related to the American sweet potato. As the story goes, southern sweet Potato growers wanted to differentiate between their slender, orange-fleshed variety of sweet potato and the paler east coast variety. So, they dubbed it “yam,” a trade name for south Louisiana’s sweet potatoes since the 1930’s.

In actuality, the sweet potato is not a potato nor is it a yam. It is a rooted tuber, member of the morning glory family and native to the Americas. But it is not related to the ordinary potato, or the African yam. As William Shakespeare concluded, what’s in a name? Would a sweet potato by any other name be just as delicious and nutritious? Absolutely!

So, depending on your roots, call it what you may. Fact is, there’s only one crop of sweet potatoes per year – August to October. They undergo a curing process then they are kiln dried and stored for a year round supply. Now is the best time to include sweet potatoes in meals. The most luscious, naturally sweet, moist and succulent sweet potatoes are available in the fall.

Buy smooth-skinned potatoes that are free of blemishes and have a firm, bright appearance. Avoid withered-looking potatoes. Select small to medium sweet potatoes, as they are more moist and tender. In general, the darker the potatoes skin, the sweeter the flesh. Store them in a cool, dry place away from heat source for one to two weeks. Sweet potatoes do not store well, so buy in small quantities.

Sweet potatoes can be baked, boiled, roasted, cut in chips and deep-fried. To bake, wash and dry, pierce in several places with knife. Bake a medium sweet potato at 400°F for about 45-60 minutes depending on size. Check for doneness by piercing with a knife. Although you can microwave them for about 6 minutes, greater flavor will develop during slow oven baking. Serve with butter or margarine and brown sugar or maple syrup.

One medium baked sweet potato (114 grams) contains about 117 calories, lots of beta-carotene (24,880 IU vitamin A), 397 mg potassium, 32 mg calcium, 3.4 grams fiber, 26 mcg folate, 2 grams protein, 28 mg vitamin C as well as phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. It also contains 3 to 6 percent natural sugar, which increases during storage at warm temperatures (curing) and during the early stages of cooking. An enzyme in the sweet potato causes starch to break down and convert to glucose – hence…the sweet in sweet potato.

Source: North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, Inc. The Oxford Companion to Food: A. Davidson, 1999, and the USDA.

November-December 2002
Hort Shorts | Hort Tips | Selecting a Christmas Tree | All-America Selections Winners 2003 | Water Houseplants…..The Right Way | Sudden Oak Death | Bug Bites - Pantry Pests | Cybergarden Sites | Lawn Care Calendar | Go With the Grain | Sweet Potatoes: I Yam | The Soup’s On: Easy Lentil Squash & Collards | Créme Brûlée | Cornish Game Hens for the Holidays

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