Elizabeth Alexander & Pineapple Sweet Potatoes
In celebration of April as National Poetry Month, we are shining the spotlight on various Black poets who have written poems about food. This post honors Elizabeth Alexander, an accomplished poet who composed and read the poem “Praise Song for the Day” for Barack Obama’s Presidential inauguration. She has been known for creating links between her cultural vision and the universal experience. Her poems are centered on themes of race and gender, politics and history, and motherhood. Read her poem “Butter” and find the recipe for Pineapple Mashed Sweet Potatoes below.
Butter
- My mother loves butter more than I do,
- more than anyone. She pulls chunks off
- the stick and eats it plain, explaining
- cream spun around into butter! Growing up
- we ate turkey cutlets sauteed in lemon
- and butter, butter and cheese on green noodles,
- butter melting in small pools in the hearts
- of Yorkshire puddings, butter better
- than gravy staining white rice yellow,
- butter glazing corn in slipping squares,
- butter the lava in white volcanoes
- of hominy grits, butter softening
- in a white bowl to be creamed with white
- sugar, butter disappearing into
- whipped sweet potatoes, with pineapple,
- butter melted and curdy to pour
- over pancakes, butter licked off the plate
- with warm Alaga syrup. When I picture
- the good old days I am grinning greasy
- with my brother, having watched the tiger
- chase his tail and turn to butter. We are
- Mumbo and Jumbo’s children despite
- historical revision, despite
- our parent’s efforts, glowing from the inside
- out, one hundred megawatts of butter.
Pineapple Mashed Sweet Potatoes Recipe
By Tupelo Honey
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1.5 cups chopped pineapple
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 400. Mix sweet potatoes, pineapple, maple syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a buttered 9”x13” baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 50-55 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
- Remove sweet potatoes and mash in separate bowl. Stir back into the pineapple mixture in the baking dish. Add heavy cream, warmed up, and cayenne and stir well. Serve and enjoy!