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How Sweet They Are Beyond Holidays

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@tampatrib.com

Published: January 10, 2009

A sweet potato is not related to the potato. Nor is it related to a yam. It is its own, delicious thing and deserves widespread admiration beyond token holiday meals.

When Christopher Columbus brought back these foods, they were called batatas by the Taino Indians in the Caribbean,. The name morphed into patatas and eventually, potatoes, writes Elizabeth Schneider in "Vegetables From Amaranth to Zucchini."

For almost 50 years, sweets were the only "potatoes" in Europe, Schneider writes, because regular potatoes took much longer to be accepted. More than 90 percent of all sweets are grown in Asia, many of them more starchy, light-colored versions of the tuber.

The rich flavor of the sweet potato needs little tweaking and certainly does not need garnishing with sweet, puffy marshmallows on holiday tables.

Try them steamed, sliced and sprinkled with herbs and a touch of butter. Or roast them, split open and top with a teaspoon of sour cream or yogurt mixed with horseradish to taste. Other compatible flavors, suggest Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg in "The Flavor Bible," include bacon, apples, onions, chilies, lemon and cilantro.

Chicago Tribune

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