Finding something U ish to write about has been a little bit of a challenge. Most of the U foods or culinary words I could think about were from the Asian diaspora, except for underseasoning. Ultimately, I came to be enthralled with a potato consumed predominantly in the Phillipones, called Ube. It is not to be confused with other purple potatoes. Rarely is it used as a starch. Ube challenges our notions of what a how a potato should be used.

Jun Belan, a food blogger, who writes about foods and food memories from the Filipino kitchen wrote this about this yam. “Ube [ooh-beh] is purple yam, which should not be confused with purple potatoes or with purple sweet potatoes.  Purple yam is not uniquely found in the Philippines but Filipinos by far use it more than anyone else to flavor and color their sweet treats and breads.