Description/Taste
Sweet potatoes are roughly ovate and cylindrical with tapered ends and regardless of color, maintain a similar shape in all varieties. Sweet potatoes can vary in skin color ranging from golden-brown, white, copper-red, to purple. Its inner flesh additionally can be white, orange, yellow or orange-red. Sweet potatoes have a sugary flavor and can be firm or soft, with white-fleshed varieties having the firmest, driest flesh, and the orange-fleshed a softer, moister texture.
Nutritional Value
Sweet potatoes are high in potassium and Vitamin A and offer some antioxidants, vitamin E and vitamin C.
Applications
Sweet potatoes are best suited for cooked applications such as baking, steaming, and roasting. Used in both sweet and savory preparations, Sweet potatoes can be sliced thin and sautéed or layered into lasagna, ratatouille, or casseroles. Cut into wedges or sticks it can also be baked, grilled or deep fried. The moist orange fleshed Sweet potatoes can be used to make a naturally sweet puree for pies, bread, sauces, and cakes. Complimentary flavors include toasted walnuts, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cumin, curry, cilantro, parsley, pears, apples, eggplant, bell pepper, maple syrup, brown sugar, sour cream, butter, and feta cheese. Sweet potatoes should be stored loose in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and should not be refrigerated.
Geography/History
The Sweet potato is believed to have originated in South or Central America, but the exact origin has not been identified as early evidence of it can be found in multiple regions of the world. Evidence of its cultivation in Peru dates back 4000 years before the Spanish arrival in the 1490’s, and taxonomic studies indicate that historically the densest collection of genetic diversity of the Sweet potato crop is found in Central America. Sweet potatoes provide a valuable source of food and nourishment to a diverse range of cultures and are widely available across the world including North America, Central and South America, Europe and in Asia.