In our blog series we introduce to you every month a food product which can be bought freshly-harvested in
Majorca, together with a recipe tip for cooking it on your holiday finca in Majorca or at home. Have fun with it!
It is bulbous, unshapely and has a reddish or white skin – the sweet potato. Also known as “Batate”, it is called “boniato” or “patata dulce” in Spanish.
Although it bears the name of the potato and actually resembles it in appearance, they are only distantly related to each other.
Where does the sweet potato come from?
Originally the bulbous root comes from South America, where it is much more widely used than in Northern Europe. In the south of Europe the sweet potato is, however, also very much appreciated and it is also grown on Majorca but mainly the white variety.
Amongst market tradesmen the white sweet potato is considered to be a Majorcan original and is an integral part of the island cuisine. It is harvested mainly in the fields of Sa Pobla, Majorcas pantry for vegetable products, where the island’s best potatoes are also cultivated. The sweet potato is a winter vegetable whose seedlings are planted in March and the harvest is carried out both by machine and by hand – the tractor is used for the initial work, but the potatoes are harvested by hand.
Highly versatile
As a side dish it is very versatile and can be boiled, baked, fried, gratinated or roasted. Due to its sugar content the taste is slightly sweet, and its consistency is similar to that of the pumpkin. Some swear by a simple preparation – boiled like a potato, served with butter and liquid honey instead of salt. In Majorcan cuisine the tuber is used both for desserts and for savoury dishes and is the main ingredient in the thick dough of the famous Bunyols: a popuar dessert, which is fried in flour, sprinkled with powdered sugar or dipped in honey, and are sold in many markets.
The sweet potato is, however, also served as an accompaniment to meat. With crispy suckling pig baked in the oven, to poultry or fish, in a powerful stew or as sweet potato soup refined with mushrooms, eggs or the typical sobrasada sausage. Even crisps can be made from it, as well as French fries or puree. The nutritious boniato provides a sweet touch in aromatic dishes, has calories that warm in winter and tastes simply exquisite in all its forms.
Sweet Potato Pie
Our marketing manager Daniela van Westing has a delicious recipe using sweet potatoes to make a tasty, spicy cake, warming particularly on colder days.
“I was given this recipe during my time in Florida when we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner, but also here in Spain it is always very well appreciated when I prepare it for friends.”
Ingredients
275 gr. of puff pastry
3 medium size sweet potatoes
2 eggs
150 gr. of white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
400 ml of light cream (if you want to save a few calories here, you can replace parts of the cream with milk).
3 tablespoons of soft butter
50 gr. of brown sugar
100 gr. of half pecan nuts
Preparation
Peel the sweet potatoes, cut into medium-sized pieces and boil until tender.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease a baking pan and gently press in the puff pastry, making sure that the edges are sufficiently high. Mix the sweet potatoes with a blender to a smooth pulp. Beat in the eggs in a bowl until frothy and add the sweet potato pulp. Add the white sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and the cloves and stir well, and then stir in the cream. Pour everything together into the baking pan on to the puff pastry.
Depending on the height of the mould, the baking time is 40-55 minutes. From time to time a knife or a toothpick should be used to test how firm the cake is inside.
In a pot, melt the butter, add the brown sugar, and finally add the pecan nuts. Spread the mixture spoon for spoon over the cake and let it caramelize on the highest oven rack with upper heat. After about 3 minutes bubbles will form, then take it out and let it cool down a little.
Do you have great recipes using sweet potatoes? We would be happy to receive your comments!
