U.S. Sweet Potatoes All the Rage in Europe

Great Britain gave us Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, and John Lennon, so now we're returning the favor... sending the Brits all our sweet potatoes.

While the U.S. dollar sinks deeper into the toilet, American sweet potato exports, between 2005 and 2009, have more than doubled, reaching $51.4 million. Great Britain is the major buyer.

Wow, I can't picture our sophisticated tea-sipping neighbors to the east, cooking up those disgusting sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top. My word!

American sweet potatoes are becoming very popular in Europe. In Ireland - yes, Ireland, the holy land for spuds - sweet potato imports from the United States are up $125,000. Not a lot? It was zero in 2005.

People from the South are going to laugh at this, but for a long time supermarkets in Europe branded sweet potatoes as in "exotic" vegetable. So, why is sweet potato mania now taking Europe by storm? One answer is kind of funny.

Food safety is a big deal in Europe, and size matters. Luckily new equipment has helped American farmers grow more uniform looking sweet potatoes, making them more acceptable by European standards. Just like the Brits, so concerned with keeping up appearances.

The North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission - no really, there's actually a potato commission - says increased marketing efforts and promotions in European supermarkets have also increased demand overseas.

I'm happy to see this. I think good trade relations between countries is necessary for global prosperity. Plus, sweet potatoes are so good, they're one of my favorite foods; baked, roasted, French fried, whatever! Just not with marshmallows, that way wreaks of mental illness. Sorry.

Now, if you want to add some class to your holiday meal, and not the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, try Mama Pugliese's sweet potato recipe.

Sweet Potatoes With Maple Syrup

3 to 4 sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch thick slices
1/4 cup natural maple syrup
2 tbsp soy or almond milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice
Sprinkle of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a shallow baking dish with non-stick spray. Add all of the ingredients on to a baking dish. Toss well to mix and coat potatoes. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover, turn gently, and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes, or until fork-tender.

Image credit: DisneyLiving

Food potatoes recipes 12 Comments Anya on 4 Dec 2010

Well I can tell you that your neighbours look on the American sweet potatoes with marshmallows with a kind of awed horrer...

We love sweet potato & prawn cakes with a soy dressing and a salad on the side. Not a hint of sweetener in the whole dish. Or plain old mash with a dash of nutmeg. One thing we often do is make a curry dish without meat using sweet potato - a sweet potato rendang is heavenly - cuts the calorie count of the dish and tastes oh so good!! I'm currently trying to grow my own :)

btw its "reeks havoc" not "wreaks havoc" ...

Reply Berzerker on 4 Dec 2010

It's funny, I've always had my sweet potatoes boiled, with a bit of cinnamon - That's it. And about a year ago someone told me people put all of this syrup and marshmallows and crap on them and I thought "Why would you ruin perfectly good food like that?" I've been looking into growing my own, but the Okinawa kind - Much better flavor.

Reply lana on 5 Dec 2010

Same. Cinnamon was something new for me. I always had it baked with the skin on. Never had it with sugar syrups or marshmallows. That just seems gross to me.

Reply Mehitabel on 4 Dec 2010

Uh no, it's "wreaks" havoc, not "reeks".

Reply O. on 4 Dec 2010

My parents are from the South and I never liked sweet potatoes!

All my life I have seen them covet the groceries from back home that they missed. Bringing tons with them back to California after a visit and later being able to find items here.

They grww up eating sugar cane syrup on their pancakes instead of maple or maple flavored syrup. The stuff looks like motor oil and smells gross. Out here they sometimes resort to buying dark corn syrup but won't eat maple unless it is at a restaurant.

Other favorites like grits and cornmeal are easy to find everywhere now. And of course there is the current national obsession with the southern favorite red velvet cake.

It's nice to know that the love for southern food has spread to other countries. They need to watch their waistlines though!.

Reply juliamako3 on 4 Dec 2010

u r right

Reply mehitabel on 4 Dec 2010

Sweet potatoes? Europe can have them.

Reply dwayneyao3 on 5 Dec 2010

is it sweet potate

Reply Alexie on 5 Dec 2010

I live in Germany and I use sweet potatoes a lot - either mashed up with some curry powder, or as a roasted vegetable. It's a really good food.

Never, never, never with marshmallows.

Yech.

Reply Spectra on 5 Dec 2010

I love sweet potatoes! I don't like them with a ton of sugar and other garbage on them; I prefer mine to be just baked with a little salt and pepper and olive oil on them. Mmmm :)

Reply richardb10 on 5 Dec 2010

this is good

Reply bijou on 6 Dec 2010

I love sweet potatoes! I too don't understand why you would sweeten a naturally sweet food. Marshmallows on sweet potatoes (yuck!), sugar on strawberries, etc. The sweetness of sweet potatoes is palpable even when you put salt on them! They're delicious.

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