Mama Kat Thursday: Strange Food

Today's Mama Kat topic is, 

"Talk about a food someone convinced you to try."

Because the military is full of wives from other countries, the base grocery store, called a "Commissary," is full of unique fruits and veggies you just won't find at your local Walmart. Dragon fruit, bread fruit, daikon radishes---strange food I have no idea what to do with. Among them, Jamaican Sweet Potatoes.

So one day while shopping at the Commissary, Hubby and I run into our friend, Richard, an Air Force guy who is part of our Bible Study group. He's originally from the island of Barbados, which is in the Caribbean.In his cart I observed several Jamaican Sweet Potatoes.

Jamaican Sweet Potatoes

Of course, I'd seen them in the vicinity of the regular Sweet Potatoes many times, though I didn't know anything about them aside from the fact they had a darker red skin then the other kind.

 Curious, I asked Richard about them.
Richard paused, searching for the right words, then finally in his soft island accent explained that Jamaican Sweet Potatoes weren't particularly Jamaican. They were grown and eaten throughout the Caribbean. He described them as being more "savory" in flavor then our American type.
So, I decided to buy a couple to try out. 

Since I'm accustomed to my sweet potatoes being orange on the outside and a richer orange on the inside, I expected the same of the Jamaican Sweet Potatoes. I expected the inner flesh to be as deep a red as the outside.

Not so. They are more white in color on the inside.

 Then when I cooked them, I didn't find them sweet at all. They tasted more like a regular old potato.

So, on that day I learned that "savory," in this case meant "tastes nothing like the sweet potatoes you're used to."

It was an interesting experience, but I decided I'd rather eat good ol' fashioned regular sweet potatoes. I like the color and taste better.

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(Note: the orange breed of sweet potato common in grocery stores is called Covington and all types of sweet potatoes are members of the Yam family.)

Common "Covington" Sweet Potato

So, how do you feel about sweet potatoes? Have a favorite kind?

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