Gransnet forums

Food

Sweet potatoes, basic question

(45 Posts)
Alishka Sat 10-Sept-16 11:44:13

blush are they sweet to taste, or merely a variety of tuber that happens to be called sweet?
Thing is, I absolutely loathe sweet-tasting foods( including cakes, biscuits and chocolate) , savoury all the way for me,so have never tasted them. That word just puts me off.
(But I make a mean parsnip and Parmesan rock cake, tho. Got a batch in the oven atm)
So...do sweet potatoes taste sweet?

Alishka Sat 10-Sept-16 18:06:28

Ok then, I'm now going to buy2 sweet potatoes from Morries on Thursday, one of each colour and I like chestnutssmile. Gosh, my life's getting exciting grin

Tegan Sat 10-Sept-16 18:20:24

We watched the Yorkshire bus programme the other night. The S.O. was really looking forward to it but after a while he said 'I need a commentary'. Like the sleigh ride programme that was on a while back they're very good is you suffer from insomnia....Mind you, we did both wake up with a jolt when we recognised Richmond and shouted 'we were there'..

Parsleywin Sat 10-Sept-16 18:29:45

BlueBelle, thanks for mentioning the white ones. I noticed them for sale recently for the first time but already have a couple of the orange ones to use up, so I exercised restraint. If I'd known they are chestnut-like, I'd have been straight in there!

Alishka Sat 10-Sept-16 20:23:58

tegan I've got to mail my bro. In America tomorrow. When I tell him I've been watching 2hrs of tv with no-one speaking, well, apart from 'thank you' or 'nice day today' as passengers get on the bus and no interruptions every 3mns or so for ads, he'll be green with envy. We were watching the Olympics together one day and while I was enthusing about the archery and the gymnastics, he was only seeing anything the US were in (and then only when there was a chance they were going to do well, and, of course, all those ads...shock) we've so much to thank Auntie Beeb for.

Tegan Sun 11-Sept-16 18:52:59

Bought a bag from Sainsburys today and just had some baked and mashed with butter. The S.O. he did do a recipe with them once using onions and sausages, but I'd forgotten about it. Made a nice change; reminded me a bit of butternut squash [but much easier to peel].

Ilrina Mon 12-Sept-16 00:07:35

sweet potatoes are very yummy. I love them roasted, but also good boiled and mashed with a knob of butter melted through. I have not seen the white ones, they sound delicious.

kittylester Mon 12-Sept-16 06:25:04

Auntie Betty frozen sweet potato chips are really tasty and gluten free.

PRINTMISS Mon 12-Sept-16 08:19:57

They also taste good in corned beef hash. I think they need black pepper to bring out their flavour if you are boiling or roasting them.

Alishka Fri 23-Sept-16 11:32:35

My final say on sweet potatoes (only the red, Morries didn't have any white) - really not to my taste. Boiled them, mashed them, used some of the mash to form potato cakes,chipped them, roasted as wedgies,par-boiled and thinly sliced then used as a pasta alternative in a bake..
And I don't like their taste. That sweetness comes through, no matter how I season them.
So they're on my (small) list of foods to walk on by.
Mind you, with just 3 potatoes to play with, I did really well?
Still think I'd have been better using them with a Mr.Potato Head kit.grin
Less washing up, for one thing.

JackyB Fri 23-Sept-16 13:12:18

They are obviously not to everyone's taste!

Did you know that they bake them with a marshmallow topping in the States for Thanksgiving lunch?

Grannyknot Fri 23-Sept-16 15:07:42

tegan no need to peel butternut - baked or roasted the peel becomes really thin (I eat it) or if you halve them and scoop the pips out, just eat it out of the skin. smile

CleopatraSoup Tue 27-Sept-16 08:45:06

I bake them in their skins and serve with lime juice and yoghurt. Or sometimes peel and mash and serve with jerked chicken.

hildajenniJ Tue 27-Sept-16 09:19:35

I peel them and cut them into cubes to put in curries, they add a sweetness that curry sometimes needs. By the way, the fish curry was delicious.

Megram Tue 27-Sept-16 09:54:38

Just made butternut squash and sweet potato soup and have added some chopped chorizo as a bit of an experiment! Smells wonderful but haven't tasted yet. Tegan, I too am using a lot of turmeric and as well as taking it with oil, freshly ground black pepper is also recommended.

Auntieflo Tue 27-Sept-16 10:18:00

HildajenniJ, do you have your recipe for fish curry that you might share? My first taste if curry was a fish curry that my future MIL made. She learned to cook in India, her kitchen was a nightmare, but boy could she cook ?

GrandmaMoira Tue 27-Sept-16 11:04:49

One other thing about sweet potatoes is that they are better for you than ordinary potatoes - they have a lower GI than ordinary potatoes.

aggie Tue 27-Sept-16 12:48:55

I make a delicious soup with some onions some carrots plenty sweet potatoes and a tin of tomatoes , teaspoon each Coriander ,paprika ,turmeric and plenty black pepper . I find the tomatoes take some of the sweetness out. I make a very large amount , whizz it with a hand blender , freeze some and it is lovely and warming of a winters day

Sunny75 Tue 27-Sept-16 13:09:48

I used them last night for my fish pie topping, very tasty. Also on Cottage pie. Maybe add one small potato as firmer mash. They are better than potatoes less calorific I think! Unless anyone knows? They are great spirallized .

Sunny75 Tue 27-Sept-16 13:10:41

That's it GrandmaMoira knew they were better for you.