OMG, you are really in the cooking mode, Jay.
I thank you for this information AND the recipe. I will be looking for some of the OKINAWA SWEET POTATOS.

I know that the sweet potatos grow well in my garden, so having them here will be a blessing for me and my parrots. And my DH who loves to grow veggies will have bragging rights with all his yankee friends next year.

I will do a search online to see if they are available and what season to plant the sets. I imagine they culture like the other taters, from eyes?

Thank you for the information. The pie looks delicious.

Sweet potatoes are easy, and they prefer poor soil. Take a potato and put it in a glass of water, and place in a sunny window. It will sprout, and when the sprouts are 6" or better, break them off at the base and put in a glass of water. They will root in a few days; then you can plant them. They like full sun and hot weather, so plan on growing them next summer. I put mine out in June, and I hope they will be ready by November. When you dig them, they need to be cured in a warm place for 10 days. I plan to dig in early November, so mine will be ready for Thanksgiving.

Evidently the leaves are edible, too, but I haven't tried them yet. I guess they are similar to collards. My friend who gave me a purple sweet potato to sprout is growing them also, and they eat the leaves. Note- white (Irish) potato leaves are poisonous!

I guess Haupia is traditional in Hawaii. and I saw a recipe for a chocolate pie with the same Haupia topping(!) The three elements of the pie- crust, filling, and topping really work together. I think the chocolate would be amazing.

I would look in the flea market or in Asian markets for purple sweet potatoes. I'm sure the regular orange ones would work, but it wouldn't be the same.

Jay, nutritionally speaking, sweet potatos as we normally understand them, are extremely high in Vitamin A. So they are great for parrots because they contribute to healthy feather growth. My parrots like them raw or cooked. I have not tried them with the ornamental potatos growing in myy yard. And I do not dig mine up. I suppose I could, but that would be too much effort.

The white potatos you call Irish potatos come from the deadly nightshade family. I THINK tomatos are also in that family, unlikely as it sounds. But I will have to do some checking on that.

What is amazing to me is that the tomato is a new world plant, so not discovered until 1492 when Columbus found it on his trips. That means the Italian use of tomato sauce had to be 16th century at its earliest, I wonder what they did before tomatos came along. Cheese? Basil? And the same with corn. Wasn't it a new world plant too? What equivalent did they have before hand?

This thread about the sweet potato is worthy of a lot of attention. Besides being tasty to eat, they are gorgeous in the flower beds. It sort of blurs the lines between veggie gardens and ornamental flower beds. My DH and I have disagreements about my habit of planting them together.

That pie is beautiful, maybe because in the pic it looks like chocolate.

I have to say that I've never cared for sweet potatoes, sweet potato pie, or even pumpkin pie, but I remember my late MIL's description of sweet potato pie--"It tastes like candy!" She loved it.

The purple sweet potatoes would be fun to grow. I also have a memory of my grandmother putting a sweet potato in a glass of water on the window-sill. The vine would run all around the window frame.

I'm not sure if one would guess 'sweet potato' upon tasting it. Most of the people at work thought blueberries were involved, but it doesn't taste like them, either. When I was boiling the potatoes, the cooking water looked and tasted somewhat like grape KoolAid. As far as the pie goes, there's really nothing to compare the flavor to. Only one person, who hates coconut, declined it, and I had a lot of requests for the recipe.

I am going to try this recipe with a chocolate pie instead. I was also thinking about making parfaits, putting the chocolate and haupia in separate piping bags and making multiple layers, maybe even sprinkling chopped nuts on the layers. Kind of an Almond Joy parfait, if you will.

flgargoyle, the grape kool-aid reminds me of a recipe for Grape Pie, from the JOY OF COOKING, 1970's edition. They used concord grapes.

moccasinlanding, I was curious, too, about Italian cuisine before the tomato. My uncle, who was in Italy during WW2, said that their pizza was not like what we know today--it was mostly sliced tomatoes and other vegetables on crust. Just like here in the US, different regions may have had their own versions.

I found the following on Wikipedia:

The oldest Italian book on cuisine is the 13th century Liber de coquina written in Naples. Dishes include "Roman-style" cabbage (ad usum romanorum), ad usum campanie which were "small leaves" prepared in the "Campanian manner", a bean dish from the Marca di Trevisio, a torta, compositum londardicum which are similar to dishes prepared today. Two other books from the 14th century include recipes for Roman pastello, Lavagna pie, and call for the use of salt from Sardinia or Chioggia.[14]
Saffron

In the 15th century, Maestro Martino was chef to the Patriarch of Aquileia at the Vatican. His Libro de arte coquinaria describes a more refined and elegant cuisine. His book contains a recipe for Maccaroni Siciliani, made by wrapping dough around a thin iron rod to dry in the sun. The macaroni was cooked in capon stock flavored with saffron, showing Arab influence. Of particular note is Martino's avoidance of excessive spices in favor of fresh herbs.[11] The Roman recipes include coppiette and cabbage dishes. His Florentine dishes include eggs with Bolognese torta, Sienese torta and Genoese recipes such as piperata, macaroni, squash, mushrooms, and spinach pie with onions.[15]

Martino's text was included in a 1475 book by Bartolomeo Platina printed in Venice entitled De honesta voluptate et valetudine ("On Honest Pleasure and Good Health"). Platina puts Martino's "Libro" in regional context, writing about perch from Lake Maggiore, sardines from Lake Garda, grayling from Adda, hens from Padua, olives from Bologna and Piceno, turbot from Ravenna, rudd from Lake Trasimeno, carrots from Viterbo, bass from the Tiber, roviglioni and shad from Lake Albano, snails from Rieti, figs from Tuscolo, grapes from Narni, oil from Cassino, oranges from Naples and eels from Campania. Grains from Lombardy and Campania are mentioned as is honey from Sicily and Taranto. Wine from the Ligurian coast, Grecco from Tuscany and San Severino and Trebbiano from Tuscany and Piceno are also in the book.[16]

Here is a link that might be useful: wikipedia/italian cuisine/middle ages

Mama, you blow me away with your research into the old Italian cocina info. Thanks for looking things up.

That looks yummy! Where do the rest of us get these sweet potatoes?

I know that she gets them at the flea market. We have a sizable Asian population here in the Tampa- St Pete area, so odd and unusual produce is available here. She will often show up with some weird-looking fruit that I've never seen before. The problem is- she doesn't know the English name for it!

The pie calls for Okinawa Sweet potatoes, which have white skin, but are purple inside. I'm currently growing a similar one, but the skin is purple as well. They are rather dry if you bake them- I much prefer boiling them and mashing them.

As for where to get them- I don't know. A large produce stand or flea market, or maybe an Asian market? I intend to bring some with me when I move to SC, since I doubt they'll have them in the stores there.

OH I just LOVE sweet potatoes. I can make a meal of one. Going to look for these purple ones Jay. Thanks for the recipe. Yummmmmmmmm

Not sure our growing season is long enough here. I did grow some as water plant one summer around a fountain. Was really pretty but of course no spuds on the roots. Will give this a try next season and if nothing else the vines will be pretty.

Chris

I did a search and came up with a bunch of information, so I show it here. I am really fascinated by this veggie, related to the morning glory. If I can get some starts of it, they will be growing all over our Alabama lawn and garden next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Okinawan sweet potato search

I found a company that sells Okinawan cuttings- mericlonelabs.com.

This is one of my favorite threads on Smaller Homes. I love the contributions of Mama Goose, who I so very much miss today, and realize how much she is in pain over the loss of her husband.

A couple of days ago I visited an Asian market in our small Mass. town, and they had the Okinawa sweet potatos there, as well as a couple of other kinds of the sweet varieties. I was intrigued by their fresh veggie selections, and plan to go back. I love stir fry foods, and when I get my gas range, plan to do more wok cooking.

But I had to come back online via my DH's computer to get the recipe from FLGARGOYLE. My computer, which has all my recipes in AZZCARDFILE on it, is in the shop and I could not make sure I had all the ingredients. I am very excited anticipating a slice of Jay's pie.

So in the next few days, I hope to be back online to report how a pie-making novice does with this recipe.

I thank you for the link to the cuttings from mericlonelabs.com Jay.

The variety you are currently growing is probably like the OTHER one they had at the Asian market. It is more the color of a "new potato" yet shaped like a traditional sweet potato. I think the young lady called them a Japanese sweet potato/yam. I'll try to take a picture of the whole potato and the skin/flesh after I cut it open.

My vines have started flowering! The flower is very much like a morning glory, to which they are related. I'll try to get a pic in the morning.

We're having folks over for Thanksgiving that have never been here before, and I'm planning a sweet potato casserole with purple sweet potatoes- should be interesting. I'll probably make the Purple Pie as well.

jAY, thanks for that updated info. In all the years I've grown the chartreuse leafed ORNAMENTAL sweet potato, there has never been a bloom, but plenty of huge purple-skinned and purple (reddish purple) flesh inside. Some big and round the size of a big grapefruit, others torpedo shaped. The roots I always leave in the ground to overwinter, and they do not die on me. That is in south Alabama, of course, which is zone 8B or even zone 9.

Up here in Massachusetts, I visited an Asian market and bought 3 of the Okinawa variety, and now have all the ingredients in good supply for making a pie. I also bought a new 9x13 baking pan. When I can, I will also check your mericlonelabs.com link and see when I should order the cuttings.

I plan to use Splenda instead of sugar. Every calorie reduction helps when you are diabetic.

Jay, the MERICLONELABS.COM site is not available since 10.10.10 or something like that. So I will be checking elsewhere.

Actually, I bought some of your Okinawas from the Asian market here in Mass. I may decide to take some of them home to Alabama and plant themm there. How hard could it be to grow them anyway.

As a result of my trip to the market a couple of weeks ago, I returned there yesterday and went over the entire stock in the store. I came home with some sweet/sour sauce mix, some rice vinegar, some real Chinese soy sauce, a jar of minced ginger, fresh ginger to plant at home, some black bean sauce, some sort of noodles, some Chinese cabbage, some really long green onion looking things....labelled in Chinese characters so not sure what they are exactly. And I may go back for some dried mushrooms...both Shitake and Portobellos. I did not get any duck eggs preserved in different herbs and sauces. The prices were all very reasonable too...much better than in the supermarket across the street.....and organically grown locally too.

A real discovery!

Hmmmm.... I just tried the site, and it worked fine for me??? My Asian friend got me some more Okinawans at the flea market. I'm going to make a sweet potato casserole in the the Penzey catalog- has a streusel on top! Our son's girlfriend's parents are coming here for Thanksgiving, so we need to pull out all of the stops.

If you can spare one of the those Okinawan potatoes, stick it in a jar of water and put it in a sunny window. You can raise your own slips to plant in Alabama. Sweet potatoes need HOT weather; they won't do much until it gets hot out, so try to nurse one through the winter or something. Sweet potatoes will keep a long time in a cool (but not cold) environment.

I love Asian markets; we have a lot of them here. I found out that SC is a good climate for growing shiitake mushrooms in the woods, so you know I'll be trying that, too!

Which Flea Market in the Tampa Area has these sweet potatoes"

Quote from above:
"I know that she gets them at the flea market. We have a sizable Asian population here in the Tampa- St Pete area, so odd and unusual produce is available here. She will often show up with some weird-looking fruit that I've never seen before. The problem is- she doesn't know the English name for it!"

I'm pretty sure she gets them at Wagon Wheel on Park Boulevard. I know she goes early, because they sell out fast.

Thanks!

We grow Ube (purple yams) and would like to try the purple sweet potatoes.

Jay, I tried the mericlonelabs.com link again. It says that the site was parked free pending renewal, but there is nothing there to view.

Would you please please put a LINK to it that I might click on? I have had trouble with my computer lately and do not understand why things get messed up like this.

Another question, which my DH asked me to answer today, and of course I could not.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YAMS AND SWEET POTATOS?
RMPLMNZ reminds me of this when he mentions PURPLE YAMS and PURPLE SWEET POTATOS. A minor puzzle, but interesting.

Oh yes, I checked the Gurney Garden Catalog which arrived today, but they do not sell any purple yams OR sweet potatos. Bummer.

I have to admit- I've never been able to tell the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, but I know they are in fact different. I think the two names are (erroneously) interchanged. So- I don't know if I'm growing sweet potatoes or yams! I do know the two kinds of purple ones I've had are sweeter, but drier than regular sweet potatoes. In fact, we did not care for them baked- too dry.

I added the link to mericlone-

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple potatoes

Jay, thank you for the link. It worked.

I called the lab just now, and found out when to order the sets and when to plant them. Very friendly conversation.
I look forward to starting my sets around the end of February, when our garage restoration will be completed.

I'm planning for 25 plants of the Okinawas.

They informed me that the sweet potatos do not cross pollinate, so my chartreuse ornamentals with purplish red flesh should not cause a problem even if planted close together.

I did a quick search on the above subject, and found the basic document which I link below. It does not mention the PURPLE fleshed sweet potato, but then we know it is special.
:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Difference between Yam and Sweet Potato

I'm adding a link to this thread, because it seems the NYTimes has discovered the sweet tater also.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our from under the marshmallows!!!

I made a sweet potato casserole recipe from the Penzey's catalog, only I used the purple sweet potatoes. With streusel on top it was nearly a dessert! I've always disliked marshmallows, so they never cover my sweet potatoes.

BUMP THIS JEWEL UP TO THE TOP AGAIN.

I am now visiting my Asian Supermarket, where I am trying all the different tubers. I got one purple skinned tater, and it turned out to be a white sweet potato on the inside. But it tastes just like our normal sweet potatos, looks like a baked Idaho on the inside.

I'm also falling in love with the different cabbages, just steam them and make a very light sauce, also they have some rice paper that looks like flour tortillas but is very fine. What I like about them is, they are so thin that it keeps my carb consumption down...a very good thing.

I only harvested one purple potato last year :(. I must have missed a few, because there are vines all over the place this summer! Time will tell if they make any taters this year. I know if the soil is too rich, you get all vines and no spuds. No fertilizer this year. The leaves are edible, too. I might try cooking some for the heck of it, since I love greens, and I do get a lot of leaves.

I found some purple skinned white fleshed sweet potatos at the Saigon Market. Gee, that place is great, and I realized that the little VietNamese folks running it are all slim and trim, must be their diet, so I am looking into more Asian veggies.

When I go this week, I'll pick up some of the WHITE skinned and PURPLE FLESHED sweet taters.

I tried to get to www.mericlonelabs.com and could not. They sell the slips for planting the Okinawa variety. But I've also found that Melissa's Produce online sells them, 10 pounds at a time. Pretty expensive, but if all else fails I could plant from that source and grow my own afterward.

My ornamental sweet potatos which I thought were gone, began to sprout early this month. Lovely chartreuse leaves. If you say the leaves are edible on yours, then why not on these too? Wouldn't it be great if KUDZU was edible? An endless supply..... :)

If you find the potatoes in your Asian market, it's easy to grow your own slips. Stick a potato in water and place in a sunny window. When the slips get big enough, break them off and root them in a glass of water.

Jay, I also had some purple skinned and white flesh sweet potatos from the Asian market. I saw several that had sprouts growing, so I took them home. I cut a piece off and planted them in the garden. I think two of them are growing quickly, and if they do like my ornamental taters, the leaves will die down this winter but any tubers will begin to grow again next warm season. They do not start early, maybe in mid June here in Alabama.

But I also put two Okinawa into a jar of water because they have small sprouts coming. Next week I'll put them in the ground too.

The white taters taste like a sweet baked potato, white flesh. I boiled some of the Okinawa last night to start my pie, and eating some of that was so low-key sweet and the texture and taste was like a boiled mung bean. I buy those canned also, and they are nice, but I think the Okinawa is going to be my favorite.

I need to learn more about Asian veggies, because I like the various cabbages, and would like to grow them. I wish I knew the names, but I plan to study the subject. There is a GW forum for Asian veggies and gardens, so I'll see if they are helpful. Did you read that there is a salmonella outbreak traced to papaya? I just threw out my papaya, don't want my parrots or me to get sick. I also bought two
dragon fruit, I think they might grow in my zone but think they like drier climates with low humidity.

I decided to try the Asian foods to help with diabetes. You seldom see a fat VietNamese, and it must be partly due to nutrition. I steam the veggies in a flavor of BETTER THAN BOUILLION and even the broth is low carb.

Well, I chunked up my purple taters, peeled them, boiled them, and then I put them in the blender. I was trying to mush them enough so I could make a pie filling.

However, those things kept getting thicker and thicker, and so I added some nice fat free half and half....and instead of sugar, I put in a cup of Splenda. And the color is the most gorgeous lavender. I've done no further cooking, but it takes a big spoon to dip this out of the blender container. I think about 48 ounce size too.

And my parrots love it, the dogs love it, and I love it. I mean, what is not to like about this smooth concoction, which tastes and has the texture of a pudding. I did not add any vanilla, but I suppose I could have but I wanted to see the taste of the natural sweet potato. Also, I could have left out the Splenda and had a veggie smoothie.

I've downloaded a book on my Kindle which is a book about making green smoothies, out of raw foods. The blessed thing about such food, so many of the green foods are "free" foods that do not count against your diet if you are diabetic. That is one reason I've begun eating more dill pickles, sauerkraut, jalapenos, mustard on any sandwich, and then the SaraLee 10 carb whole wheat sliced bread....sometimes just one slice for an open faced sandwich.

But the green smoothies are espousing the raw food diet, going beyond vegan to raw, and eliminating cooked foods of any kind. You can go part way with this sort of diet, which is what I would do, but I will give it a go because by eating raw greens, I've already lost 8 pounds. Hard to take it off, but great when it happens.