What Is a Batata? How to Cook With the Root Vegetable (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a potato and a batata? ›

After all, it is not potato! Indeed, sweet potato or Ipomoea batatas, called kumara in Oceania, and known widely today as batata (which is actually grown in Hungary now) does not belong to the class of potatoes, resembling it only in shape.

Batata (sweet potato) is one of our most ancient foods, and it has been a food staple on this island since Precolumbian times. A very versatile and popular root vegetable, we use it to make flavorful savory dishes and delightful traditional desserts.

Description: Batatas are white sweet potatoes native to South and Central America. This root vegetable is known by many names, depending on where you plant your flag, including boniato, tropical sweet potato, Cuban sweet potato, batiste, and camote.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes total, stirring every 10 minutes so they don't stick to the sheet. Remove them once you can easily insert a fork all the way through.

They're high in fiber and antioxidants, which protect your body from free radical damage and promote a healthy gut and brain. They're also incredibly rich in beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A to support good vision and your immune system.

Yes, you can eat sweet potato skin, whether it's an orange, white or purple sweet potato. So the next time you make sweet potatoes, try keeping the skin on. Not only will it save you prep time and add a textural component to the dish, but there are also nutritional benefits to leaving the peel on.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can safely eat a small portion of raw potato every once in a while, as it is a good source of gut-friendly resistant starch. However, the bitter and starchy taste and the potential for an upset stomach or diarrhea may likely steer you away.

Culinary Uses:

It is usually peeled, then cooked like sweet potatoes. It can also be baked, boiled, fried, roasted or microwaved. An especially good use for the batata is when combined with butternut squash, black beans, and other seasonings to make a Caribbean-style stew.

sweet potato [noun] (the edible tuber of) a tropical twining plant. yam [noun] any of several kinds of potato-like tropical plants used as food.

Sweet potatoes refer to a vine species (Ipomoea batatas) in the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). This species is likely what is on your Thanksgiving dinner table. In the United States and Canada, sweet potatoes are often (confusingly) referred to as “yams.” But sweet potatoes are not even closely related to yams.

What kind of potato is batata? ›

It is a white-fleshed variety of the sweet potato. Culinary Uses: It is usually peeled, then cooked like sweet potatoes. It can also be baked, boiled, fried, roasted or microwaved.

Though they can both be part of a healthy diet, sweet potatoes are generally healthier than regular potatoes, partly because of their incredibly high vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also lower on the glycemic index, meaning that they are less likely than regular potatoes to make your blood sugar spike.

Sweet potato or Ipomoea batatas L. was grown in the Caribbean as batata or camata as early as the 15th century. They were introduced to the subcontinent as early as the 17th century and the North-east of India was particularly known for its cultivation.