How on earth did we survive pre-Wikipedia?
The rich would pop along to their study and pull out the appropriate volume of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Joe Soap (and yours truly) would have popped down to the public library to search through the non-fiction section to try to locate something that vaguely resembled the subject matter of our query.
The rest would run to ask their mother. And she would tell them the truth. Of course
But nowadays I rely tremendously on Professor Wiki.
And I needed to refer to him again this morning when a neighbour brought us a bowl of various home-grown produce. Among the vegetables was a yam, which she described as a “kind of potato.”
Naturally, I have only heard of yams from Americans, so this creature is entirely new to me. It got roasted with some other vegetables the other night and tasted quite cool, if my opinion on such a tiny sample is worth anything. The neighbour has promised to bring us some tubers for planting, so I’m looking forward to anew gardening and cooking experience in the near future. I will keep readers posted.
Some checking on Wiki indicates the various names this vegetable is known by in other countries:
- Apilla in Bolivia
- Apiña in Bolivia and Peru
- Batata-baroa or mandioquinha (literally, "little mandoica") in Brazil, a name shared with the unrelated arracacha.
- Cuiba or quiba in Venezuela
- Hibia, huasisai, or ibi in Colombia
- Macachin or miquichi in Venezuela
- Papa extranjera in Mexico
- Truffette acide in France
- Yam in many other places, such as Polynesia and New Zealand, where the Discorea vegetables known elsewhere as yams are generally very uncommon.
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