The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, April 29

Hi, all!

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Ramble of the Day

I come again with a food hot take which I’ve decided to frame politely for whatever reason: if you can, I’d like you to keep sweet tasting foods away from my sweet potatoes. I do understand that they’re called sweet potatoes, and that they’re seemingly well positioned to be paired with sweet things. Ultimately, I just don’t think pairing the vegetable with sweet foods is the best use of it, or even in the top three.

I developed this take after hearing about candied sweet potato casserole with marshmallow. I’d heard of the concept many times before, but hadn’t thought much of it until recently while watching television. I was immediately horrified by the idea, though I will admit this is definitely a reflection of my palate. I am no big fan of marshmallows — outside a few tiny ones in a cup of hot chocolate occasionally and the s’mores I have less frequently, I have no need for them. I have no problem with the texture, but I have nothing about them particularly satisfying; it surely isn’t the best form of sweetness.

Once you pair them with sweet potatoes, I would imagine it would eliminate the unusual but delightful taste of the sweet potato. Marshmallow is pretty overpowering, but the sweet potato’s sweetness is somewhat complex, and using its sweetness in a dessert-like context takes that natural sweetness and takes it too far. The texture is probably fun to play with in that setting, but the actual taste is so nice when using it in other forms that it makes the sweet dish seem inferior.

This is probably the least controversial thing I’ll say in today’s ramble, but a fried sweet potato is truly lovely. Fried food is delicious; I once heard a teacher in high school say she’d eat a fried water bottle, which I think about somewhat frequently. As a fry, it is a delightful spin on the traditional french fry, but also works just as well as tempura. A sweet potato, like any other vegetable, is also great when roasted. Additionally, a lot of fun can be had stuffing them, combining them with a number of different flavor profiles. (I have to imagine doing a Mexican-inspired stuffed sweet potato is awesome.)

I enjoy my sweet potatoes as part of savory dishes, as you can tell, and I enjoy them quite a bit as such. Its sweetness feels more complementary to savory foods and flavors than it does to sugary goods, and is perhaps more versatile in the first setting.

I don’t feel like dropping harsher judgments than this one, so I’ll keep the polite tone: enjoy it sweet if you must, but I’ll pass.

tl;dr: I’d rather not take the “sweet” in sweet potato too seriously.

Links of the Day

Montenegro has been ordered to play a match behind closed doors after fans directed racist chants towards England players last month.

USL Championship side Tulsa Roughnecks sacked midfielder Fabian Bastidas after he racially abused Oklahoma City Energy’s Atiba Harris over the weekend.

Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedma and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk are this season’s PFA Players of the Year.

Norwich City and Sheffield United have been promoted to the Premier League.

Neymar has been suspended for three European matches after cursing out the referees upon Paris Saint-Germain’s elimination from the Champions League.

Today’s longer read: Tariq Panja on Isha Johansen, the controversial leader of Sierra Leone’s suspended FA with friends at FIFA and a corruption case against her for The New York Times