No, sweet potatoes are not related to potatoes at all. Thay are root tubers from a South American climbing plant that also has edible leaves. However, sweet potatoes are good stuff. But how do you cook them?
Choosing sweet potatoes
Always look for sweet potatoes that are firm and that have not started to shrink at the ends.
Sweet potatoes go well with butter, garlic, chili, ginger, sesame, coconut, coriander, rosemary, thyme, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon and citrus.
Cooking sweet potatoes
You will get the best results if you bake or deep fry them, or make a soup, or a purée – or a pie for dessert.
- Peel the potato and cut it into wedges, thick slices or cubes. Spread them out on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven at 200°C for about 30 minutes until they have browned slightly and are soft all the way through.
- Sweet potatoes can be a bit too sweet for soup on their own, but with carrots, ginger and a squeeze of lime, they make a filling soup with zing (it is the slight acidity – the freshness – that does the trick). Fry chopped onion, add grated sweet potatoes and carrots and cook them with vegetable stock for about 10 minutes. Blend to make a smooth soup and flavor with grated ginger and lime.
- Or make a classic sweet potato pie with ginger and cinnamon, one of the most important dishes at Thanksgiving, a perfect autumn pudding.
- Read more about sweet potatoes
Read more about other veggies
