November is Sweet Potato Awareness Month

Be aware of these important facts about Sweet Potatoes
     Sweet Potatoes are not yams.
     Sweet Potato Awareness Month is not National Sweet Potato Month.
     They are very good to eat.

     Sweet Potatoes are not Yams. Sweet potatoes have tapered ends, and according to Vegetables by James Peterson they range between 10 to 14 oz, and average about 12 oz. Yams, on the other hand range between a half-pound and 100 pounds. They also have rounded ends, not the characteristic tapered ends of sweet potatoes. Yams are old world vegetables. Originating in Africa, they are now native to the Caribbean and Asia. Sweet Potatoes are a new world vegetable native to the Americas, although they have also crossed the Atlantic and are now grown in east Africa and Portugal. The confusion between the two vegetables dates back to 1937 when “Dr. Julian C. Miller and his colleagues in the horticulture department of Louisiana State University” decided to market the state’s moist sweet potato varieties as “Louisiana Yams.”

Not only are they not yams, sweet potatoes are not really potatoes.  According to the International Potato Center (Centro Internacional de la Papa) : “Despite its name, the sweet potato is not related to the potato. Potatoes are members of the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes, red peppers, and eggplant, while sweet potatoes belong to the morning-glory family (Convolvulaceae). And unlike the potato—which is a tuber, or thickened stem—the sweet potato is a storage root.”

     Sweet Potato Awareness Month is not National Sweet Potato Month, which is February, and should not be confused with any Sweet Potato Day that might be proclaimed. And most importantly for Texans, none of the dates above coincide with the Annual Golden Sweet Potato Festival that has been held during the fourth week in October each year in Golden, Texas ever since 1982.

     Sweet Potatoes are very good to eat.  In spite of any calendar confusion sweet potatoes are nutritious – no fat and full of the antioxidants beta-carotene and vitamin C – and delicious, whether baked, fried or turned into a pie. Fortunately the library has a few books containing very tasty recipes to raise your sweet potato awareness.
 

     660 Curries / by Raghavan Iyer; food photography by Ben Fink

     The American Ethnic Cookbook for Students / by Mark H. Zanger

      Butter Beans to Blackberries: Recipes from the Southern Garden / Ronni Lundy 

    For the Love of Potatoes! Comfort Cooking with an American Favorite / Darlene Kronschnabel 

     Gulf Coast Kitchens: Bright Flavors from Key West to the Yucatán / Constance Snow; photographs by Tina Rupp

     The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro / National Council of Negro Women; foreword by Dorothy I. Height; introduction by Anne L. Bower; originally compiled and edited by Sue Bailey Thurman. This book contains recipes for Sweet Potato Pie and Sweet Potatoes and Peanuts by no less a luminary than Dr. George Washington Carver. There is also a pie recipe on page 71 by Marie B. Johnson, where the editors invite you to “Compare Mrs. Johnson’s Virginia sweet potato pie with George Carver’s recipe from the deep South.”

     The Market Fresh Cookbook

     Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table: Recipes and Reminiscences from Vietnam's Best Market Kitchens, Street Cafes, and Home Cooks / Mai Pahm

     Vegetables / James Peterson

     Vegetables Every Day: the Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today's Produce, with More Than 350 Recipes / Jack Bishop

     Zainabu's African Cookbook : with Food Stories / Zainabu Kpaka Kallon