Physical Description
The Yellow Jersey is a dry type of sweet potato. The “Jersey” type, one of the two types of sweet potatoes produced for food in the United States, has a dry flesh, remains dry and firm when cooked
Colors: light pale yellowish color
Tasting Notes
Flavors: Not as sweet as other sweet potatoes
Mouthfeel: Dry, Fibrous
Food complements: Allspice, Cumin, Garlic, Hot peppers, Marjoram, Mushrooms, Mustard, Onions, Oregano, Paprika, Thyme.
Wine complements: Whites, Reds
Beverage complements: Beer
Substitutes: Japanese sweet potato, White sweet potato, Hannah sweet potato, Any other sweet potato variety
Selecting and Buying
Choosing: Look for golden yellowish skin
Buying: Look for golden yellowish skin
Preparation and Use
As the flesh of sweet potatoes will darken upon contact with the air, you should cook them immediately after peeling and/or cutting them. If this is not possible, to prevent oxidation, keep them in a bowl covered completely with water until you are ready to cook them. Sweet potatoes may be substituted for regular potatoes in almost any recipe. To peel a boiled sweet potato, just drain off the hot water and immediately submerge them in cold water. Remember that baked sweet potatoes are delicious even when served cold, and make a great food to pack in to-go lunches.
Conserving and Storing
Because of their high sugar content, sweet potatoes don't keep very well, so store them in a cool, dark place - but not the refrigerator - and don't plan to keep them more than a week or two. They should be stored loose and not kept in a plastic bag.
Social/Political
History: What most of us call yams are actually sweet potatoes, a member of the morning glory family. True yams are seldom grown or eaten in North America. The confusion began in the 1930s, when Louisiana farmers chose the word yam to set their product apart from the dry, pale sweet potatoes grown in the north of the US. The Southerners, by contrast, grew a sweet potato cultivar that produced a tuber with vivid orange flesh, a moist texture and a sweet taste.
Native to the new World, sweet potatoes traveled to the Old World before the potato itself. In another odd twist in history, Columbus introduced them to Europe with the name batata, a word taken from the native inhabitants he encountered in the Caribbean and South America. For some reason, when the tuber we now call potato came on the scene, it was given the same name, and the sweet potato varieties began to be distinguished from them, rather than vice versa. The word yam is an English adaptation of nyami, the Senegalese word for the large starchy African tuber. African yams are rather bland and dry, so they're often served with spicy sauces.
Sweet potatoes are native to Central America and are one of the oldest vegetables known to man. They have been consumed since prehistoric times, and sweet potato relics dating back 10,000 years have been found in Peruvian caves. As noted, Christopher Columbus brought sweet potatoes to Europe after his first voyage to the New World in 1492. From there, they spread around the world with astonishing speed. By the 16th century, they were brought to the Philippines by Spanish explorers and to Africa, India, Indonesia and southern Asia by the Portuguese.
