PLANT FOLKLORE: Sweet potato | Community
There are a few theories as to how the yam and the sweet potato got confused in the collective consciousness. One of the most logical is that West Africans adopted the sweet potato in their kitchen after being brought to the southern United States, as it was the best substitute they could find for their yam though. -loved.
Yams have dark brown, turgid skin, and their tubers can grow up to 5 feet deep. The flesh is creamy white. Throughout West Africa, yams are a staple food and the king of crops.
Sweet potato, on the other hand, is native to Central America and can come in many shades, from orange to ruby ​​to purple, and is usually the size of a large red potato.
Currently, some producers are trying to unravel the confusion by removing the word “yam†from the packaging.
Conventional wisdom was that the sweet potato found its way to Europe with Christopher Columbus, and from there to the east. There is now evidence that indicates that he arrived in Polynesia from the Andes around 400 years before Ferdinand and Isabelle sent Chris to find them riches.
The sweet potato has featured prominently in Hawaiian history. When Captain James Cook arrived in 1778, it was already an essential culture for the islanders. Hawaiian legend tells us about the pig god, Kamapua, whose muzzle was just long enough to dig up the fleshy tubers.
New Zealand folklore says that when this tuber is in the ground, an enemy can go mad and simply run away. Maori songs are about the god of food culture and how he cared for this vital plant.
“Yaki Imo†means “potato man†in Japanese, but what he sells are actually roasted sweet potatoes. He rolls his cart down the street early in the morning, singing and begging the residents to have his hearty breakfast.
In the same family as Morning Glory, Ipomoea batatas has the same prolific vine habit, and the varieties are often used as ornamental plants. In the language of flowers, it is said “I am attached to you”.
The tuber serves as a tonic for the stomach and kidneys, contains vitamins and produces glucose. There is absolutely no need to add sugar to sweet potatoes, but it is the South, after all.
While they weren’t available on the first Thanksgiving, the festive board would definitely be missing something without a dish filled with these sparkling jewels.
– Reference librarian Lisa Karen Miller has been practicing gardening and researching plants for many years. Do you have any plant knowledge to share? Send an email to lisalisa13131313@gmail.com.