---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 04:42:29 -0600
To: aroid-l@mobot.org
Subject: RE: Hispanic Grocery Tubers
Dear Les,
>I finally located a hispanic market here on Long Island and was faced with
>the classic question of which "aroid is this root".
>
>I found Mapuey, Columbian Yam and two varieties of Yautia. After searching
>the web, I identified Mapuey as Dioscorea trifida. Is that an aroid? Can
>it be grown over a short season?<<
How lucky you are!! You have found a few interesting( and delicious!) Aroids
and a few VERY delicious non-aroids!! I believe that "mapuey", IF in fact it
is D. trifida, is the same as what Jamaicans call "yampey" and we Trinidadians
call "cuch-cush". It is without a doubt the smallest and THE finest tasting
(and the most costly ) of the Dioscoreas, and as far as I know the ONLY edible
Dioscoria native to the New World. It may require a longer growing season
than you can provide, and grows as a substantial vine, with leaves reminiscent
of a bat-man logo! You can cook it like potato, and mash it with butter, use
it in soups, or make a shepard`s pie with it. Enjoy!
>Columbian Yam looked very much like tubers of Colocasia esculenta. At
>$1.29 a pound it seems far more reasonable than the general cost in
>nurseries. Is Columbian Yam a Colocasia?<<
I do not believe so, it prob. is a species of Dioscorea, called "white" or
"St. Vincent " yam in Trinidad. Coarser texture than Mapuey, but also good.
>Yautia looked like (and probably is) a Xanthosoma. Can anyone identify
>Xanthosoma fla (presumably florida) and Xanthosoma lily?<<
I believe that the "Xanthosoma fla" will probably be X. sagittifolia, and the
"Xanthosoma lily" (actually they are trying to say the spanish for "lilac",
it`s color) will be X. violacium.
Sincerely,
Julius
ju-bo@msn.com
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