Sweet potato cook-off in Tabor City draws creative recipes

WILMINGTON, N.C. (CAPE FEAR WEEKEND) – Can you make a list of everything that you can make with a sweet potato? At the North Carolina Yam Festival Sweet Potato Cook-Off people got creative.

Three categories and dozens of mouthwatering dishes, both sweet and savory. Pam Byrd, the manager of the Todd House Wedding & Event Center, where the cook-off was held, said how much variety is entered into the competition.

“It’s always from one end of the spectrum to the other, I mean from cookies to cakes to soups to bake sweet potatoes to, you know, a Mexican topped with hot peppers and stuff like that. You never know what they come,” said Byrd.

This tradition has been cooking up tasty treats since the very beginning, but something new this year is a third category that involves the whole family.

“We have a mom and me, and they consist of the kids being able to help with anything. If it was nothing but turn on the mixer or help stir or breaking an egg, you know, anything like that. Why we did this is just to try to incorporate parents doing things with their kids. And it’s been a huge hit. Then we have the adult division and we have the youth division,” said Byrd.

The youth division tends to have many recipes entered into the competition, mainly thanks to the local high school and one woman who has been teaching kids how to bake for nearly 70 years. The president of the North Carolina Yam Festival, Joe Small, spoke highly of this astounding teacher.

“We got South Columbus High School where the kids are the bakers. They got Miss Davis, who have been there for years, who teach their kids how to bake and how to sweets and how to, put ingredients together in a school system for a long time,” said Small.

Even the face of the North Carolina Yam Festival, the Yam Man, is brought into the action for this event.

“We had two judges, but I’m the tiebreaker and it comes with a price sometimes. (as he rubs his belly) But, everything is so good. I wish we gave all of them ribbons, but you just can’t. You have to pick and choose,” said Tiger Tater, the festival mascot “Yam Man”.

But with so many goodies to choose from, selecting the best one can be tough.

“We’ve had sweet potato candy, we have sweet potato ice cream, we’ve had sweet potato cider. Some people think that you can only bake or French fry them, but there’s hundreds of ways to use the sweet potato in everyday foods. And, it just turns out so good. That’s what I love about the cookout,” said the Yam Man.

This is a fan-favorite event and it’s been around since the beginning of the festival and we’re told that it’s also the most delicious one.

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