Source: NCDA&CS, 2/2/15

February is Sweet Potato Month in North Carolina, and restaurants across the state are celebrating by offering sweet-potato dishes on their menus. It’s all part of the “Signature Sweets” promotion, sponsored by the N.C. SweetPotato Commission.

About 50 restaurants are participating in the promotion, which asks chefs to create a signature dish using N.C. sweet potatoes. Dishes can be appetizers, entrees, sides or desserts.

A list of participating restaurants is available on the N.C. SweetPotato Commission’s website at www.ncsweetpotatoes.com. Recipes will be on the website after the promotion. Signs in each restaurant will help to promote the dishes.

“Signature Sweets” is a follow-up to the commission’s “Sippin’ Sweets” holiday promotion in December, when bartenders created cocktail recipes using sweet potatoes or sweet-potato products. The aim of both promotions is to highlight the versatility of sweet potatoes, said Heather Barnes, a marketing specialist for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“When most people think about preparing sweet potatoes, they think about baking them,” Barnes said. “These promotions showcase the variety of dishes you can make using sweet potatoes.”

North Carolina is the nation’s top producer of sweet potatoes, accounting for nearly half the country’s crop. In 2014, N.C. farmers harvested almost 1.6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Representing 450 growers across the state, the N.C. SweetPotato Commission aims to increase sweet-potato consumption through education, promotion and research.