Thanksgiving is a while past, but I’m still reaping the rewards of my slightly warped culinary imagination. In the lead-up to All Glutton’s Eve, I pondered how to make my volunteered dish – mashed sweet potatoes – less generic and predictable. As usual the farmers market provided inspiration, this time in the form of cheaper-than-yams boniata.
Boniato (plural -a) is a white-fleshed, pink-skinned tuber, common in Caribbean and Central American cuisines. Since I was cooking for people other than myself, I decided to make this dish for myself before the big day. Good choice!
In my initial go, I thought it’d be fun to add some spice to the mash, and added jalapenos and a splash of cider vinegar: due to an underestimation of the available peppers’ strength, this turned out to be too hot for even me to eat. Luckily, it makes a fantastic alternative condiment in like fajitas or burritos. I also learned that boniata are gummier than ‘regular’ sweet potatoes, and a bit drier too.
Deciding to tone this all down for a wider audience (who were probably less interested in garnish than starchy goodness), I made a couple more attempts before the final version, and ended up with a delicious one. Subtler in flavor than yellow sweet potatoes, and with a texture somewhere between the more common (orange) sweet potatoes and yucca, the boniato mash made a lovely addition to the Thanksgiving table. Leaving the skin on punctuates the dish with color and a little extra textural interest.
What I used:
6 boniata, well scrubbed
2 jalapeno peppers (optional)
2 cloves garlic (I wish I’d thought of roasting these, but it was good this way too)
About 2 cups whole milk
About 1/2 stick unsalted butter
Salt
White pepper
Nutmeg
What I did:
Cut up the boniata and place immediately in a pot of lightly salted water (they start to discolor quickly in the air). Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Boil until boniata are tender enough to mash (about 10-15 minutes). While that’s going, chop up your spices and measure out your milk and butter.
Now, drain the boniato and return them to the pot, mashing in the butter and then milk (adjust ammounts to your preferred consistency, but bear in mind: it gets gummier when cool!). Add a pinch of nutmeg, white pepper to taste (I used about 1/3 tsp), the peppers if you’re using them, and your garlic. Once that’s all mashed together, taste. Adjust seasonings as needed. Serve immediately.
This mash will keep a good while in the fridge, but again, bear in mind: it does dry out more than orange sweet potato mash, and gets gummier when cold. Still, a delicious leftover lunch!
– MAW
