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    Getting to the Root of It - A Guide to Dominican Tubers

    En Español

    Words like yautía and ñame will seem confusing for some readers, fear not, we've written a comprehensive guide to Dominican tubers to help you navigate through some of our recipes.

    Ingredients for vegan "Sancocho" (root stew).
    Dominican tubers (víveres dominicanos).

    JUMP TO: show ↓
    1. What are Dominican víveres?
    2. Roots and tubers in Dominican cuisine
    3. Notes about batata
    4. Tia Clara's notes

    It’s no exaggeration to describe tubers and root vegetables (tubérculos, raíces or víveres in Spanish) as iconic Dominican foods. If they were more photogenic they could easily claim a spot on the Dominican flag (not the edible variety) alongside the other national symbols featured there, if a vacancy were to arise.

    What are Dominican víveres?

    Víveres is what Dominicans call a number of vegetables, tubers, and root vegetables.

    In standard Spanish, víveres actually means the basic foodstuffs that are needed for survival. This gives us some idea of the importance of these tubers and vegetables for Dominicans. It also reminds me of the way the word for bread in Egyptian Arabic, aish, means life.

    Root vegetables and tubers, as well as auyama (West Indian pumpkin) and plantains -- neither of which are tubers in the botanical sense but in the Dominican Republic are in the same gastronomical family as víveres -- are firmly intertwined with the Dominican national cultural identity.

    Víveres in their own right as well as the dishes they are used in, like mangú, are among the country’s best-loved and most representative foods. A remarkable thing about tubers is that despite being a traditional poor people’s food, Dominicans of all socioeconomic classes love them, with no stigma attached whatsoever.

    Roots and tubers in Dominican cuisine

    Setting plantains and auyama aside for the moment, let’s concentrate on root vegetables and tubers, and what they are called in Spanish and English. We’ve touched on this before in articles about the challenges of writing about Dominican food for an English-speaking audience.


    Yuca (Cassava)
    Yuca (Cassava)

    Yuca

    Scientific Name: Manihot esculenta
    Name in the Dom. Rep.: Yuca
    Name in Cuba: Yuca
    Name in Puerto Rico: Yuca
    Name in Venezuela: Yuca
    Name in Mexico/Central América: Yuca
    Names in English: Cassava / Manioc / Brazilian arrowroot
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, fried as finger food, mashed as a side dish, in soups and stews, in casseroles, and several other dishes (see yuca recipes here).


    Yautía blanca (malanga)
    Yautía (malanga)

    Yautía blanca

    Scientific Name: Xanthosoma sagittifolium
    Names in the Dom. Rep.: Yautía / Yautía Blanca
    Names in Cuba: Malanga blanca / Guagüí
    Name in Puerto Rico: Yautía
    Name in Venezuela: Ocumo blanco
    Names in Mexico/Central America: Macal (Mexico, Yucatan) / Quiscamote (Honduras) / Tiquisque (CR)/ Otó (Panama)
    Names in English: Malanga / Taro / Dasheen
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, mashed as a side dish, and in Sancocho Stew and Pasteles en Hoja pockets.


    Yautía morada (blue taro)
    Yautía morada (blue taro)

    Yautía morada

    Scientific Name: Xanthosoma violaceum
    Names in the Dom. Rep.: Yautía morada
    Names in Cuba: Malanga lila / Malanga morada
    Name in Puerto Rico: Yautía lila
    Name in Venezuela: Ocumo morado
    Names in Mexico/Central America: Tiquisque morado (CR) / Otó (Panama)
    Names in English: Blue Taro
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, mashed as a side dish.


    Yautía amarilla (Indian kale)
    Yautía amarilla (Indian kale)

    Yautía amarilla

    Scientific Name: Xanthosoma atrovirens
    Name in the Dom. Rep.: Yautía amarilla
    Name in Cuba: Malanga amarilla
    Name in Puerto Rico: Yautía amarilla
    Names in English: Malanga / Indian kale
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, and mashed as a side dish.


    Yautía coco (cocoyam)
    Yautía coco (cocoyam)

    Yautía coco

    Scientific Name: Colocasia esculenta
    Names in the Dom. Rep.: Yautía coco, pipiota, ñemolea
    Name in Cuba: Malanga isleña
    Name in Puerto Rico: Malanga
    Name in Venezuela: Ocumo chino
    Name in Colombia: Mafafa
    Name in Mexico/Central América: Malanga
    Names in English: Cocoyam / Taro
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, and mashed as a side dish.


    Batata (Japanese yam)
    Batata (Japanese yam)

    Batata

    Scientific Name: Ipomoea batatas (L.)
    Name in the Dom. Rep.: Batata
    Name in Cuba: Boniato
    Name in Puerto Rico: Batata
    Name in Venezuela: Batata dulce / Chaco / Boniato
    Name in Mexico: Camote
    Names in English: Oriental sweet potato / Japanese yam
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, fried as finger food, mashed as a side dish, in soups and stews, desserts, and several other dishes (see batata recipes here).


    Ñame (yam)
    Ñame (yam)

    Ñame

    Scientific Name: Dioscorea trifida
    Name in the Dom. Rep.: Ñame
    Name in Cuba: Ñame
    Name in Puerto Rico: Ñame
    Name in Venezuela: Mapuey
    Name in Colombia: Ñame
    Names in English: Yam / Indian yam
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, mashed as a side dish, and in Sancocho Stew and Pasteles en Hoja pockets.


    Mapuey (Indian yam)
    Mapuey (Indian yam)

    Mapuey

    Scientific Name: Dioscorea trifida (L.)
    Name in the Dom. Rep.: Mapuey
    Name in Cuba: Ñame Mapuey / Llampín
    Name in Puerto Rico: Ñame Mapuey / Mapuey
    Name in Venezuela: Wanka
    Name in English: Yam / Indian yam
    Used in: Boiled as a side dish, and mashed as a side dish.


    Notes about batata

    Orange sweet potato
    Orange sweet potato

    What is commonly -- and incorrectly [12] -- known as yam in the United States is actually an orange-fleshed sweet potato (also Ipomoea batatas, though not the pale variety that is known as batata in the DR). It is not related to ñame. The USDA recognizes yam as ñame, and requests that the orange sweet potato be labeled "sweet potato".

    Tia Ilana

    Tia Clara's notes

    While this is the article in which we have invested more time in the research process, it has been very difficult to find a consensus on names in many cases.

    The method we followed was to start by sending the photos to 20 colleagues, five of them Latin American, the rest Dominican, and asking them to identify each tuber. We also looked up the scientific names and matched these to local names in those countries. In some cases, the answer was obvious (as in the case of cassava, which is yuca). In others, we found answers that required further investigation.

    Unfortunately, in some cases, reliable literature is scarce or contradictory, but we take the authoritative sources (see references at the bottom) that confirmed the majority consensus. We appreciate you telling us if you know any of these by a different name, this may just mean that there are local/regional names that do not appear in the scientific or academic literature we consulted.

    If you have any regional names that we've left out, please share in the comments.

    References

    1. University of Melbourne Plant Names Database [archived]
    2. Fundación de Desarrollo Agropecuario. Guía Técnica de Cultivo [archived]
    3. Revista del Jardín Botánico Nacional © 2002, Universidad de la Habana
    4. La Cocina Dominicana: Características, Desarrollo y Diferenciación
    5. Centro de Recursos Informativos Digitales Agrícolas de Puerto Rico [archived]
    6. Library of Congress Website
    7. FAO
    8. Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (pag. 2153, 2154)
    9. Instituto Dom. de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales
    10. Food Reference Online
    11. El agricultor venezolano, ó Lecciones de agricultura práctica nacional. 1861 Ed. Volumen 1. (pag. 88-89)
    12. Sweet Potato or Yam? University of California, Agriculture & Natural Resources

    By Aunt Ilana - Published May 7, 2015, revised Feb 7, 2023

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