Meet a vegetable that is out of control in Zimbabwe: the sweet potato. This crazy plant could just about save the whole country... for a few months anyway. These giants can grow to well over a foot long and are abundant beyond belief. Last year our first harvest tackled about a twelfth of the sweet potatoes plants growing in our garden... and we filled a large laundry basket! My housekeeper, Ziwone, taught me the key to keeping these veggies fresh for a long time: never wash them! Keeping the dirt on their outsides makes them last in a dark pantry forever....
It is a terribly arduous task. Digging up sweet potatoes is no joke and usually requires a long pick-axe or hoe. Here Jonas tells Kurt where he should be searching for these goodies. You can tell sweating Kurt appreciates it.
The easy part is replanting sweet potatoes, though. After the potatoes are dug from the ground, the greens -no matter how torn- are simply covered with a little dirt and watered; they will grow a whole new (always larger) crop the next year!
(Above) my sister Caryn eats a plain, boiled sweet potato during our harvest celebration. Typical Shona eating involves few ingredients. Cook a potato. Eat a potato.
African Sweet Potato
Pancakes
3 eggs
½ cup millk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon dried thyme
12 oz of finely shredded African sweet potatoes
2 onions, sliced very thinly or finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste (~3/4 tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper)
Mix all ingredients together well. Place in a hot shovel, skillet, or pan that
is greased with either butter or oil. Allow first side to brown before
flipping. Brown second side. Eat as a savory pancake: plain (my favorite!)
or topped with sour cream (creme fraiche in Africa) or plain yogurt.
Note: Give it a try even if you can't get African sweet potatoes... This recipe is great when you use American sweet potatoes and leave out the thyme, or when you replace the African sweet potatoes with a starchy white potato (Idaho or Russet) instead!
Yum!
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