Why sweet potatoes are one of the most historically important crops
Thanksgiving,
which comes a week from now, can be challenging for Indians invited
to a traditional feast. Turkey is often dry and tasteless, cornbread
stuffing stodgy and cranberries served straight from a can as an acid
tasting jelly. The only good parts are usually pumpkin pie, where our
humble kaddu achieves real glory in a spicy-sweet filling, and
candied sweet potatoes, at least as long as they aren't covered with
sickly-sticky molten marshmallows, a truly revolting combination.
At least Americans value sweet potatoes, which is more than we seem to do. They come to the market around the same time here, perhaps in distant memory of their New World origin. As our 'winter' approaches carts come on the street piled with the reddish brown tubers and a charcoal brazier in which to roast them, to be peeled, sliced, sprinkled with salt, chat masala or lime for one of the healthiest and tastiest street snacks.
But sweet potato or shakarkhand only occasionally makes it from streets to homes. Bengalis use it in deep fried sweet pantuas and some inventive savoury dishes, like the sweet-sour ambal described to me by Chitrita Banerji, the Bengali food writer, in a recipe that combines them with radishes and boris (dried dal dumplings) in a tamarind sauce. They are one of the many ingredients in undhiyo, the great Gujarati winter dish, and are used in the upvas dishes made for fasting days when many regular grains and vegetables can't be used.
There's not much more than that which is a pity given their combination of taste and good nutritional profile. Sweet potatoes are perhaps the healthiest of the main edible tubers, with an outstanding combination of complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, particularly the orange or purple fleshed varieties. A side benefit if you know growers, or grow them yourself — and they make for an attractive climbing vine — is that their leaves are very nutritious too, and excellent in a stir-fry.
This, combined with easy cultivation, made sweet potatoes one of the most historically important crops, quite likely the first grown in South America. Western explorers like Columbus were quick to take them to the Old World — one of their names, batata, was picked up by potatoes which were once seen as the less important tuber. But even before Columbus sweet potatoes seems to have crossed the Pacific to Hawaii and New Zealand, a fact used by Thor Heyerdahl to justify his Kon-Tiki expedition to prove that Polynesians originally came from South America.
Potatoes may have won over sweet potatoes by being blander, so more versatile, and holding their shape better when cooked, unlike sweet potatoes which get crumbly. But these are reasons to value sweet potatoes for themselves — their delicious natural taste and creamy texture when cooked. Buying them from the street vendors means you also get a smoky taste which is great to take home and add to a salad — if you can resist eating them on the spot.
At least Americans value sweet potatoes, which is more than we seem to do. They come to the market around the same time here, perhaps in distant memory of their New World origin. As our 'winter' approaches carts come on the street piled with the reddish brown tubers and a charcoal brazier in which to roast them, to be peeled, sliced, sprinkled with salt, chat masala or lime for one of the healthiest and tastiest street snacks.
But sweet potato or shakarkhand only occasionally makes it from streets to homes. Bengalis use it in deep fried sweet pantuas and some inventive savoury dishes, like the sweet-sour ambal described to me by Chitrita Banerji, the Bengali food writer, in a recipe that combines them with radishes and boris (dried dal dumplings) in a tamarind sauce. They are one of the many ingredients in undhiyo, the great Gujarati winter dish, and are used in the upvas dishes made for fasting days when many regular grains and vegetables can't be used.
There's not much more than that which is a pity given their combination of taste and good nutritional profile. Sweet potatoes are perhaps the healthiest of the main edible tubers, with an outstanding combination of complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, particularly the orange or purple fleshed varieties. A side benefit if you know growers, or grow them yourself — and they make for an attractive climbing vine — is that their leaves are very nutritious too, and excellent in a stir-fry.
This, combined with easy cultivation, made sweet potatoes one of the most historically important crops, quite likely the first grown in South America. Western explorers like Columbus were quick to take them to the Old World — one of their names, batata, was picked up by potatoes which were once seen as the less important tuber. But even before Columbus sweet potatoes seems to have crossed the Pacific to Hawaii and New Zealand, a fact used by Thor Heyerdahl to justify his Kon-Tiki expedition to prove that Polynesians originally came from South America.
Potatoes may have won over sweet potatoes by being blander, so more versatile, and holding their shape better when cooked, unlike sweet potatoes which get crumbly. But these are reasons to value sweet potatoes for themselves — their delicious natural taste and creamy texture when cooked. Buying them from the street vendors means you also get a smoky taste which is great to take home and add to a salad — if you can resist eating them on the spot.
By Vikram
Doctor, ET 19 Nov, 2014,
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