Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
W H E R E T H E Y' R E G ROW N: North Carolina is the leading state for sweet
potatoes, followed by California, Louisiana and Mississippi.
H O W T O C H O O S E: There are two kinds of sweet potatoes in markets. One
is pale orange and starchy; the other is dark orange, a little sweeter and very moist. Sweet
potatoes are frequently called "yams," although they are completely different from true
yams, which hail from West Africa. Use the dark orange ones when you want the sweet
potato to hold together in a dish. Use the pale ones when you want a dish to be light and
fluffy.
H O W T O S T 0 R E: Sweet potatoes will last for a couple of weeks at cool room
temperature, but refrigerating does them no harm.
H O W T O P R E PA R E: Sweet potatoes need only to be peeled before cooking.
If you are going to roast them, even that isn't necessary - you can spoon the pulp from the
skin after they are cooked.
O N E S I M P L E D I S H: Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork in several places.
Place them on a jelly-roll pan and bake at 450 degrees until they are quite soft, 30-40
minutes. (Piercing keeps them from exploding, and the jelly-roll pan will catch the sugar
