In article >, wrote:
>In article >,
>Monique Reed > wrote:
>>I received this query today and don't have any info. Can anyone offer
>>an answer or personal experience?
>
>I think you've gotten a good answer regarding edibility.
>
>White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and Japan.
>The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
>I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much inferior
>to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>the difference in culinary properties.

The sweet bucks of my childhood (grown by my uncle and cooked with the
roast chook for that special Sunday dinner -- at midday, in the
tropics, for crissake! ) had a slightly greenish tinge internally
when cooked and a very slightly "stringy" texture (more visual than
physical). I don't remember their skin colour, but they were
*delicious* with a crisp outer shell from the oven roasting. :-)

I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
for a feed.

I'm told by a bloke who was breeding them here that the very sweet,
orange types are often used as a sweet (e.g. in desserts) in other
parts of the world; but it's not a common way of using them here in Oz
AFAIK.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
wrote:
> >In article >,
> >Monique Reed > wrote:
> >>I received this query today and don't have any info. Can anyone offer
> >>an answer or personal experience?
> >
> >I think you've gotten a good answer regarding edibility.
> >
> >White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and
Japan.
> >The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
> >I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much
inferior
> >to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
> >and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
> >the difference in culinary properties.
>

piggy-backing, but those sweet potatoes are most often used for tempura,
roasting, or candy-ing (such as the recipes at
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/swe...daigakuimo.htm in Japan.
Sometimes I see sweet potato bread or croissants (with the sweet potato used
as a filling), but the former three are the most common recipes, I believe.

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We had
people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy to go
back. We call them Canadians."
---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004

"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
wrote:
> >In article >,
> >Monique Reed > wrote:
> >>I received this query today and don't have any info. Can anyone offer
> >>an answer or personal experience?
> >
> >I think you've gotten a good answer regarding edibility.
> >
> >White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and
Japan.
> >The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
> >I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much
inferior
> >to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
> >and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
> >the difference in culinary properties.
>

piggy-backing, but those sweet potatoes are most often used for tempura,
roasting, or candy-ing (such as the recipes at
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/swe...daigakuimo.htm in Japan.
Sometimes I see sweet potato bread or croissants (with the sweet potato used
as a filling), but the former three are the most common recipes, I believe.

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We had
people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy to go
back. We call them Canadians."
---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004

There is also a yam which grows in the southern Mexico wooded areas that is
edible but rather than Ipomea it is related to the Dioscorea group
(spelling?) and also has weak birth control properties. (I think diosgenin
is extracted from it, A preproduct of birth control medications. )

Chuck


"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
> "Phred" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article >,
> wrote:
>> >In article >,
>> >Monique Reed > wrote:
>> >>I received this query today and don't have any info. Can anyone offer
>> >>an answer or personal experience?
>> >
>> >I think you've gotten a good answer regarding edibility.
>> >
>> >White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and
> Japan.
>> >The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The
>> >ones
>> >I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much
> inferior
>> >to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>> >and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>> >the difference in culinary properties.
>>
>
> piggy-backing, but those sweet potatoes are most often used for tempura,
> roasting, or candy-ing (such as the recipes at
> http://japanesefood.about.com/od/swe...daigakuimo.htm in Japan.
> Sometimes I see sweet potato bread or croissants (with the sweet potato
> used
> as a filling), but the former three are the most common recipes, I
> believe.
>
> --
> ***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***
>
> "[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
> had
> people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy to
> go
> back. We call them Canadians."
> ---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004
>
>
>

There is also a yam which grows in the southern Mexico wooded areas that is
edible but rather than Ipomea it is related to the Dioscorea group
(spelling?) and also has weak birth control properties. (I think diosgenin
is extracted from it, A preproduct of birth control medications. )

Chuck


"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" > wrote in message
...
> "Phred" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article >,
> wrote:
>> >In article >,
>> >Monique Reed > wrote:
>> >>I received this query today and don't have any info. Can anyone offer
>> >>an answer or personal experience?
>> >
>> >I think you've gotten a good answer regarding edibility.
>> >
>> >White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and
> Japan.
>> >The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The
>> >ones
>> >I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much
> inferior
>> >to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>> >and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>> >the difference in culinary properties.
>>
>
> piggy-backing, but those sweet potatoes are most often used for tempura,
> roasting, or candy-ing (such as the recipes at
> http://japanesefood.about.com/od/swe...daigakuimo.htm in Japan.
> Sometimes I see sweet potato bread or croissants (with the sweet potato
> used
> as a filling), but the former three are the most common recipes, I
> believe.
>
> --
> ***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***
>
> "[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
> had
> people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the energy to
> go
> back. We call them Canadians."
> ---Grover Norquist in Newsweek, November 22, 2004
>
>
>

In article >, "Chuck" > wrote:
>There is also a yam which grows in the southern Mexico wooded areas that is
>edible but rather than Ipomea it is related to the Dioscorea group
>(spelling?) and also has weak birth control properties. (I think diosgenin
>is extracted from it, A preproduct of birth control medications. )

My purple yam is shooting again -- in fact it had >50 new shoots
spread over several metres at last count. The root "tubers" are
edible, but the purple colour is a bit of a worry and I would never
had tried the things if I hadn't been told by reliable sources that I
could eat it. It also has aerial tubers (bulbils?) which will grow if
planted, but I don't know if they are edible (some of these things
aren't). Frankly, I reckon yams are over-rated and I probably
wouldn't eat them by choice beyond curiosity.

One of the local supermarkets has recently been flogging another type
of yam and, judging by how clean the things are, I suspect they might
actually be edible aerial tubers in this case. Pale buff skin and
pure white flesh with even a suggestion of translucence. The texture
is light and crisp -- rather "refreshing" eaten raw, but bugger all
flavour. (Rather like the tubers of _Pachyrhizus tuberosa_ in fact.)


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article >,
Phred > wrote:
>In article >, wrote:
>>
>>White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and Japan.
>>The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
>>I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much inferior
>>to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>>and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>>the difference in culinary properties.
>
>The sweet bucks of my childhood (grown by my uncle and cooked with the
>roast chook for that special Sunday dinner -- at midday, in the
>tropics, for crissake! ) had a slightly greenish tinge internally
>when cooked and a very slightly "stringy" texture (more visual than
>physical). I don't remember their skin colour, but they were
>*delicious* with a crisp outer shell from the oven roasting. :-)

Interesting. IIRC, white sweet potatoes are sometimes recommended as a
substitute for "real" potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in climates too hot to
grow the latter. They are a bit similar -- dry and starchy.

>I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
>I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
>to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
>for a feed.

They are very nutritious -- extremely high in carotenes. I cook them
whole in a covered container in the microwave and eat them hot or cold
with salt and pepper. The very moist kind, with "melting" texture, are
especially good this way.

>I'm told by a bloke who was breeding them here that the very sweet,
>orange types are often used as a sweet (e.g. in desserts) in other
>parts of the world; but it's not a common way of using them here in Oz
>AFAIK.

They are sometimes "candied", i.e. peeled, cut into chunks and baked in
a way that coats them with a sugary glaze, in the southern US. They
can also be used to make sweet potato pies, by substituting mashed
sweet potato for pumpkin or squash in a pumpkin pie recipe.

(A little more ethnobotany for non-North Americans: a pumpkin pie is
made by baking a mix of pureed squash (Cucurbita moschata or C.maxima
is generally better for this than C.pepo), milk, eggs, molasses and
spices like cinnamon and ginger with only a lower crust. For a
healthier version, cut back on the eggs, use low fat milk and skip the
crust entirely. By not using a crust, you not only avoid loads of fat
but you can "bake" it in the microwave. Pumpkin pies are often served
with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but you can certainly skip
that as well.)

In article >,
Phred > wrote:
>In article >, wrote:
>>
>>White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and Japan.
>>The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
>>I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much inferior
>>to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>>and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>>the difference in culinary properties.
>
>The sweet bucks of my childhood (grown by my uncle and cooked with the
>roast chook for that special Sunday dinner -- at midday, in the
>tropics, for crissake! ) had a slightly greenish tinge internally
>when cooked and a very slightly "stringy" texture (more visual than
>physical). I don't remember their skin colour, but they were
>*delicious* with a crisp outer shell from the oven roasting. :-)

Interesting. IIRC, white sweet potatoes are sometimes recommended as a
substitute for "real" potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in climates too hot to
grow the latter. They are a bit similar -- dry and starchy.

>I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
>I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
>to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
>for a feed.

They are very nutritious -- extremely high in carotenes. I cook them
whole in a covered container in the microwave and eat them hot or cold
with salt and pepper. The very moist kind, with "melting" texture, are
especially good this way.

>I'm told by a bloke who was breeding them here that the very sweet,
>orange types are often used as a sweet (e.g. in desserts) in other
>parts of the world; but it's not a common way of using them here in Oz
>AFAIK.

They are sometimes "candied", i.e. peeled, cut into chunks and baked in
a way that coats them with a sugary glaze, in the southern US. They
can also be used to make sweet potato pies, by substituting mashed
sweet potato for pumpkin or squash in a pumpkin pie recipe.

(A little more ethnobotany for non-North Americans: a pumpkin pie is
made by baking a mix of pureed squash (Cucurbita moschata or C.maxima
is generally better for this than C.pepo), milk, eggs, molasses and
spices like cinnamon and ginger with only a lower crust. For a
healthier version, cut back on the eggs, use low fat milk and skip the
crust entirely. By not using a crust, you not only avoid loads of fat
but you can "bake" it in the microwave. Pumpkin pies are often served
with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but you can certainly skip
that as well.)

In article >, wrote:
>In article >,
>Phred > wrote:
>>In article >,
> wrote:
>>>
>>>White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and Japan.
>>>The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The ones
>>>I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much inferior
>>>to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>>>and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>>>the difference in culinary properties.
>>
>>The sweet bucks of my childhood (grown by my uncle and cooked with the
>>roast chook for that special Sunday dinner -- at midday, in the
>>tropics, for crissake! ) had a slightly greenish tinge internally
>>when cooked and a very slightly "stringy" texture (more visual than
>>physical). I don't remember their skin colour, but they were
>>*delicious* with a crisp outer shell from the oven roasting. :-)
>
>Interesting. IIRC, white sweet potatoes are sometimes recommended as a
>substitute for "real" potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in climates too hot to
>grow the latter. They are a bit similar -- dry and starchy.
>
>>I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
>>I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
>>to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
>>for a feed.
>
>They are very nutritious -- extremely high in carotenes. I cook them
>whole in a covered container in the microwave and eat them hot or cold
>with salt and pepper. The very moist kind, with "melting" texture, are
>especially good this way.

When you say "whole", do you mean unpeeled, or just uncut?
Roughly what size do you use, and how long to cook? (As you can see,
you've got me thinking about a harvest. ;-)

>>I'm told by a bloke who was breeding them here that the very sweet,
>>orange types are often used as a sweet (e.g. in desserts) in other
>>parts of the world; but it's not a common way of using them here in Oz
>>AFAIK.
>
>They are sometimes "candied", i.e. peeled, cut into chunks and baked in
>a way that coats them with a sugary glaze, in the southern US. They
>can also be used to make sweet potato pies, by substituting mashed
>sweet potato for pumpkin or squash in a pumpkin pie recipe.
>
>(A little more ethnobotany for non-North Americans: a pumpkin pie is
>made by baking a mix of pureed squash (Cucurbita moschata or C.maxima
>is generally better for this than C.pepo), milk, eggs, molasses and
>spices like cinnamon and ginger with only a lower crust. For a

I have to admit, I'd never have thought of molasses in that.

>healthier version, cut back on the eggs, use low fat milk and skip the
>crust entirely. By not using a crust, you not only avoid loads of fat
>but you can "bake" it in the microwave. Pumpkin pies are often served
>with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but you can certainly skip
>that as well.)

Wot? I would have thought the pie would just be a convenient base for
those edibles!


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

FORGOT TO MENTION. ive had sweet potatoes sliced as thin julienne's then
deep fried and powdered lightly with powdered sugar, Served on holidays
they are delicious. A Vietnamese treat I enjoy.

Chuck


"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> wrote:
>>In article >,
>>Phred > wrote:
>>>In article >,
>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>White sweet potatoes seem to be the most popular kinds in Korea and
>>>>Japan.
>>>>The Korean greengrocers here all stock them and no other kinds. The
>>>>ones
>>>>I see all have red skin. I find them dry and bland tasting, much
>>>>inferior
>>>>to the usual moist orange or yellow fleshed kind, but perhaps in Korean
>>>>and Japanese cuisine they are prepared in a way that takes advantage of
>>>>the difference in culinary properties.
>>>
>>>The sweet bucks of my childhood (grown by my uncle and cooked with the
>>>roast chook for that special Sunday dinner -- at midday, in the
>>>tropics, for crissake! ) had a slightly greenish tinge internally
>>>when cooked and a very slightly "stringy" texture (more visual than
>>>physical). I don't remember their skin colour, but they were
>>>*delicious* with a crisp outer shell from the oven roasting. :-)
>>
>>Interesting. IIRC, white sweet potatoes are sometimes recommended as a
>>substitute for "real" potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in climates too hot to
>>grow the latter. They are a bit similar -- dry and starchy.
>>
>>>I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
>>>I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
>>>to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
>>>for a feed.
>>
>>They are very nutritious -- extremely high in carotenes. I cook them
>>whole in a covered container in the microwave and eat them hot or cold
>>with salt and pepper. The very moist kind, with "melting" texture, are
>>especially good this way.
>
> When you say "whole", do you mean unpeeled, or just uncut?
> Roughly what size do you use, and how long to cook? (As you can see,
> you've got me thinking about a harvest. ;-)
>
>>>I'm told by a bloke who was breeding them here that the very sweet,
>>>orange types are often used as a sweet (e.g. in desserts) in other
>>>parts of the world; but it's not a common way of using them here in Oz
>>>AFAIK.
>>
>>They are sometimes "candied", i.e. peeled, cut into chunks and baked in
>>a way that coats them with a sugary glaze, in the southern US. They
>>can also be used to make sweet potato pies, by substituting mashed
>>sweet potato for pumpkin or squash in a pumpkin pie recipe.
>>
>>(A little more ethnobotany for non-North Americans: a pumpkin pie is
>>made by baking a mix of pureed squash (Cucurbita moschata or C.maxima
>>is generally better for this than C.pepo), milk, eggs, molasses and
>>spices like cinnamon and ginger with only a lower crust. For a
>
> I have to admit, I'd never have thought of molasses in that.
>
>>healthier version, cut back on the eggs, use low fat milk and skip the
>>crust entirely. By not using a crust, you not only avoid loads of fat
>>but you can "bake" it in the microwave. Pumpkin pies are often served
>>with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but you can certainly skip
>>that as well.)
>
> Wot? I would have thought the pie would just be a convenient base for
> those edibles!
>
>
> Cheers, Phred.
>
> --
> LID
>

In article >, "Chuck" > wrote:
>FORGOT TO MENTION. ive had sweet potatoes sliced as thin julienne's then
>deep fried and powdered lightly with powdered sugar, Served on holidays
>they are delicious. A Vietnamese treat I enjoy.

Yeah. The breeder I mentioned earlier has occasionally done similar
things with his lines of orange sweet bucks for the benefit of his
deserving colleagues.

In that case, they were presented as "chips" analogous to potato chips
(the "thin slice" supermarket style) with salt and/or other seasoning,
not with sugar. Went down very well with cold beer on a hot day. :-)


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article >, "Chuck" > wrote:
>FORGOT TO MENTION. ive had sweet potatoes sliced as thin julienne's then
>deep fried and powdered lightly with powdered sugar, Served on holidays
>they are delicious. A Vietnamese treat I enjoy.

Yeah. The breeder I mentioned earlier has occasionally done similar
things with his lines of orange sweet bucks for the benefit of his
deserving colleagues.

In that case, they were presented as "chips" analogous to potato chips
(the "thin slice" supermarket style) with salt and/or other seasoning,
not with sugar. Went down very well with cold beer on a hot day. :-)


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article >,
Phred > wrote:
>In article >, wrote:
>>
>>>I've got a patch of the orange fleshed kind in the backyard here; but
>>>I admit they're basically just going wild (and doing it very tough due
>>>to high temperatures and no rain) and I rarely think to harvest some
>>>for a feed.
>>
>>They are very nutritious -- extremely high in carotenes. I cook them
>>whole in a covered container in the microwave and eat them hot or cold
>>with salt and pepper. The very moist kind, with "melting" texture, are
>>especially good this way.
>
>When you say "whole", do you mean unpeeled, or just uncut?
>Roughly what size do you use, and how long to cook? (As you can see,
>you've got me thinking about a harvest. ;-)

Life is too short to spend it peeling vegetables. You can scoop the
flesh out of the skin when you eat them, or just go ahead and eat the
skin. Fibre is *good* for you, it's not just laziness, right? ;-)

Unfortunately only the most fervent and dedicated can grow sweet
potatoes in Ontario, except for a few favored locations, so I have to
buy them. I try to get them less than 8cm or so diameter so they'll
cook faster, but size doesn't really matter, as long as it's fairly
uniform. How long? Hm. 10 minutes on high and then check them and
give them another 5 or 10 minutes if they are still hard in the
center? Something like that.

IIRC, in this climate it's necessary to mature the dug roots by keeping
them warm (over 80F - 27C) for a few weeks, or they won't develop full
flavour or keep well, but this may be only because the soil is pretty
cold by the time they are dug. It may not be necessary in a more
appropriate climate.

>>(A little more ethnobotany for non-North Americans: a pumpkin pie is
>>made by baking a mix of pureed squash (Cucurbita moschata or C.maxima
>>is generally better for this than C.pepo), milk, eggs, molasses and
>>spices like cinnamon and ginger with only a lower crust. For a
>
>I have to admit, I'd never have thought of molasses in that.

Pumpkin pie is really quite a different food than squash cooked as a
vegetable. Look up some recipes and try it some time, with either
squash or sweet potato. A good source of recipes for *anything* is
www.cooks.com. Note that in the US, sweet potatoes are often called
yams.

Using molasses with squash probably goes back to the use of maple syrup
or maple sugar by the North American native people who grew
squash and beans long before European contact. A lot of "traditional
American" recipes are derived from native foods, with molasses substituted
for maple sugar and pork fat substituted for bear fat, e.g. Boston baked
beans. Ditto for many uses of maize. Molasses became a staple in the
northeastern US when it was one of the main trade items in the commercial
circuit that moved manufactured goods from England, slaves from Africa,
sugar, molasses and rum from the West Indies and dried codfish and lumber
from New England and eastern Canada around the North Atlantic.

In article >,
Phred > wrote:
>
>One of the local supermarkets has recently been flogging another type
>of yam and, judging by how clean the things are, I suspect they might
>actually be edible aerial tubers in this case. Pale buff skin and
>pure white flesh with even a suggestion of translucence. The texture
>is light and crisp -- rather "refreshing" eaten raw, but bugger all
>flavour. (Rather like the tubers of _Pachyrhizus tuberosa_ in fact.)

Could be jicama, P. erosus, which is in the Fabaceae, or maybe P.erosus
is really P.tuberosus, with the error propagated around the web. At any
rate it's a popular vegetable in Mexico and adjacent parts of the US and
answers this description, especially if it's sort of vertically flattened.
Recently it's become popular as a salad ingredient in California new
cuisine, so the yuppies are creating a demand for it, and it's in all the
supermarkets here.

There seem to be a lot of Dioscorea yam cultivars. I don't know if they
are all D.batatas. There are a lot of people in Toronto from the West
Indies and Central America, and the supermarkets carry yams of many types
and colors. All the ones I've seem have been sort of rough and shaggy,
not smooth as you describe. There are probably culinary differences since
stores normally carry several kinds if they carry any.

In article >, wrote:
>In article >,
>Phred > wrote:
>>
>>One of the local supermarkets has recently been flogging another type
>>of yam and, judging by how clean the things are, I suspect they might
>>actually be edible aerial tubers in this case. Pale buff skin and
>>pure white flesh with even a suggestion of translucence. The texture
>>is light and crisp -- rather "refreshing" eaten raw, but bugger all
>>flavour. (Rather like the tubers of _Pachyrhizus tuberosa_ in fact.)
>
>Could be jicama, P. erosus, which is in the Fabaceae, or maybe P.erosus
>is really P.tuberosus, with the error propagated around the web. At any
>rate it's a popular vegetable in Mexico and adjacent parts of the US and
>answers this description, especially if it's sort of vertically flattened.
>Recently it's become popular as a salad ingredient in California new
>cuisine, so the yuppies are creating a demand for it, and it's in all the
>supermarkets here.

Yeah. They are "sort of vertically flattened", so maybe they are as
you suggest. I've only eaten _P. tuberosa_ tubers dug out of a local
yard, and they were pretty dirty. :-) So I rather assumed these
really clean things from the supermarket must have been an aerial
organ, and we had been discussing _Dioscorea_ "bulbils" around the
smoko table not long before. (In fact a colleague had brought some in
for us to try -- from a form known to be edible of course. 8-)

>There seem to be a lot of Dioscorea yam cultivars. I don't know if they
>are all D.batatas. There are a lot of people in Toronto from the West
>Indies and Central America, and the supermarkets carry yams of many types
>and colors. All the ones I've seem have been sort of rough and shaggy,
>not smooth as you describe. There are probably culinary differences since
>stores normally carry several kinds if they carry any.

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID