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Sweet Potatoes Boiled

Boiled sweet potatoes cooked with skins on, then peeled and served.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Sweet Potatoes Boiled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split any very large and thick sweet potatoes in half and cut them into four pieces so they cook evenly.

Boil

  1. Boil the sweet potatoes with skins on in plenty of water, without adding salt.

  2. Set the pot on coals in the corner if desired.

  3. Test the potatoes with a fork to ensure they are cooked through; they should take at least an hour.

Dry and serve

  1. Drain the water and set the sweet potatoes for a few minutes in a tin pan before the fire or in the stove to dry them.

  2. Peel the sweet potatoes before serving.

  3. If the sweet potatoes are very large and all of a size, you may roast them.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

111Calories
0 gProtein
12 gFat
2 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet potatoes (in the method)
Main ingredient; boiling with skins on cooks the starch until the flesh turns soft and tender.

The step that matters

Testing with a fork. Potatoes are done when a fork slides through the centre easily. Starch in the flesh softens gradually as it heats, so undercooked potatoes stay firm and chalky inside. Test the thickest pieces, since they take longest to cook through.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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