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I AM growing okra this year - that's typically southern isn't it?
Absolutely. It came from Africa and is related to cotton. Yams and sweet potatoes are different. Most yams are truly tropical and native to Africa and Asia, while sweet potatoes are native to Central and South America and can be cultivated in cooler areas, although places warmer than you will find in Canada. My home state of Mississippi is a major sweet potato producer in the U.S.
LOL re the yam vs the sweet potato - see my photo (post 13) - the sweet potato is orange (and orange interior) and the yam is purple outside white inside). You are right about the long growing season (and I believe needs really high temps as well) - I wanted to try growing some but after reading what they require, decided not to even try it. I AM growing okra this year - that's typically southern isn't it?
I tried growing okra in the past for my Jamaican BIL who misses it but the years I tried were wet and cold and nothing ever came of it.
My aunt grew okra years and years ago when she came across a package of seeds she didn't recognize. She turned out to have a bumper crop of the things but she didn't know what to do with them so she did nothing. She shared the story of her bumper crop when I shared the story of my failure.
You can get Okra pretty readily these days in major Canadian cities, in my experience. The large amount of immigration we get from India has helped, you can always find Okra in an Indian grocery, or in a fruits and vegetables store. Ten years ago, however, I had more trouble getting fresh Okra, usually had to go with frozen.
Let me very clear, there is NO southern cuisine in Canada. There is my experience very little of it in the northern states either. The genuine thing that is!!!!!
You must not have been to urban neighborhoods in Northern cities then. You can get Soul Food here in Syracuse. Remember that many of the Black people in these cities have Southern roots, including myself. Heck, some in SW Ontario and parts of the Maritimes, especially Nova Scotia do as well. It is more distant though.
I'm not surprised that Windsor has a restaurant and I'd think that the bigger Eastern cities in Canada have one as well. I know some have a Popeye's Chicken too.
Also, if you guys ever come to Syracuse and want to try some Soul Food, check out Thomas's Kitchen or Ruby's Soul Food, both on the city's South Side on South Salina Street. Ruby's is in a more "comfortable" area of that side of town. We also have a few Jamaican restaurants here too. It's pretty much the same for the other major and mid-major cities in Upstate NY and Michigan. Facebook
Popeye's Chicken is awsome and I find it way better than KFC but it is a little spicy/hot if you have not had it before ...I know they are a few Chains here in Vancouver/The Lower Mainland but not sure about the rest of Canada...
Anyways here's a link.
Popeyes' Chicken seems pretty well-represented in the GTA at least, as well as at least a couple other spots in southern Ontario if I recall correctly.
I think there is some confusion in Canada regarding the difference between a Yam and a sweet potato. Most Canadian people I know have had the orange variety but not the white.
People in Canada eat dark, leafy greens but wouldn't know them as "collard greens". It is in the same plant family as kale, I believe, which is growing in popularity in Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Balducci
Yams and sweet potatoes are different. Most yams are truly tropical and native to Africa and Asia, while sweet potatoes are native to Central and South America and can be cultivated in cooler areas, although places warmer than you will find in Canada. My home state of Mississippi is a major sweet potato producer in the U.S.
God bless,
CKB
Yeah, part of the confusion is that they tend to be either used interchangeably or be used for different varieties of sweet potatoes themselves (eg. call one particular, softer, variety of sweet potato "yam" but not another, firmer variety). I actually didn't know about this practice, but from what someone mentioned on the food forum on city-data here, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato." which actually contributes to the confusion.
Apparently, it's said that originally the African slaves had brought with them true tropical yams from the Old World, but they couldn't grow in the United States due to the climate, and the name yam was then used for the sweet potato instead, due to their resemblance.
The sweet potato has a shorter growing season than the yam, which probably explains why the former did so well in the southern United States -- the hot season would need to be extended even longer for the tropical yam to thrive.
BBQ is getting more popular with restaurants opening with that as their theme. BBQ as in ribs/wings etc. But other than that, it is not any more popular than Vietnamese, Ethiopian, or other niche sub group.
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