Have you also spotted them in cooking programs on TV and recipes on the internet? Sweet potatoes are growing in popularity. This vegetable is not actually a potato, but a tuber. Sweet potatoes are sometimes also known as yams.
They are popular for a reason. It is an incredibly healthy vegetable that is available in the shops twelve months a year. You can recognise them by their colour (often orange, but also other colours), and they stand out with their elongated to round shape. The firm interior tastes delightfully sweet. And they are very easy to prepare.
So what can you do with a sweet potato?
What we know as the sweet potato, is actually a tuber that is bursting with starch. Nevertheless, they are very similar to regular potatoes when it comes to preparation. You can do pretty much anything you can do with potatoes: boiling, frying and baking.
Use the same recipe to boil this vegetable. Chop the potatoes into equal pieces, cover with water and bring to the boil with a pinch of salt. Expect a cooking time between 15 and 25 minutes.
Baking or grilling sweet potatoes
You can serve sweet potatoes as a side dish, but it is also recommended as a puree. Milk, butter, pepper and salt are all you need. The same goes for baking: slice or cube, toss in a little butter or oil and bake for 20 minutes. If you want to try sweet potatoes grilled, grill some slices of 1 to 2 cm thick in around 15 minutes, until done.
Sweet potato fries
With sweet potatoes, you can put a very surprising – but equally tasty – variety of fries on the table. Here again, it's not very complicated. Start by pre-frying for about five minutes at 160 °C, leave to drain in a colander, and then fry for another five minutes at 180 °C .
As you can see: it may be an exotic relative of the potato, but it is just as versatile. Read more about it on the product page or get started right away with the ideas on our recipe page.
