sweet potato, a vegetable from elsewhere that inspires chefs

Finding it is like a treasure hunt. The sweet potato, orange or purple, hides at 20 cm underground, under a thick layer of foliage. Crunchy raw and tender cooked, it awakens the taste buds and the imagination of chefs.

Near Le Havre (Seine Maritime)Sebastian Argentinianmarket gardener, works with vegetables from elsewhere, such as sweet potatoes from America or Japan. Despite its rustic appearance, the tuber is fragile. To cultivate it in Normandy, it took four years of testing. “There is also a question of terroir, of land. A good watering at the right time, and suddenly you have a sweet potato that is not at all mealy, and which is really tender, juicy”he said.

He sells his 6,000 potato plants directly. For chefs who source their supplies from these stores, the range of recipes is endless. That morning, Damien Despreschef of the “Aubergine” restaurant in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine)receives its delivery. He will decline the sweet potato, and throw nothing away, not even the peelings. “We’re going to make chips with it”he notes. For the starter, he uses a sweet potato, ricottaparmesan, knob of butter and chives. He is preparing a walnut/parmesan crumble. Customers are surprised and delighted.