Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and meats like sausage or pepperoni typically make up a pizza dish. For celebrity Chef Pablo “Boy” Logro, however, sweetpotato can be used even on an Italian dish, pizza.
This was showcased on the second day of the Sweetpotato Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda (FIESTA) held on July 9-10, 2019 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, Quezon City.
Aside from sweetpotato pizza, Logro prepared duchess purple sweetpotato, which showcases the rootcrop’s versatility.
To add nutrients as well as something to chew on pizza, Logro mashed the boiled sweetpotato and mixed with cheese, butter, and cream cheese that was formed into a one-inch log and trimmed onto the edges of the pizza crust. He also added chunks of the mixture beneath the cheese.
Meanwhile, for the duchess purple sweetpotato, he mashed boiled purple sweetpotato, which he mixed with cheese, butter, and cream cheese. He added this mixture on top of halved boiled sweetpotato, which he garnished with crispy bacon and drizzled with melted butter.
During the demonstration, Logro pointed out the change in the way Filipinos see sweetpotato. He said that sweetpotato used to substitute for rice but it is now slowly making its own name in the food industry.
As someone who grew up with sweetpotato as a staple food in his home in Compostela Valley, Logro never understood its negative connotation.
Up until now, he still believes in the cultural importance of sweetpotato in the lives of the Filipinos. With this, Logro said that sweetpotato is one of the crops that he plants in his 50-hectare farm in Davao.
The cooking demonstration was part of the Sweetpotato FIESTA that promotes the rootcrop as a nutritious superfood and as a promising food industry. It also aimed to promote its potential in the industry and its technologies to farmers and interested entrepreneurs.
The FIESTA is an initiative of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the DOST (DOST-PCAARRD) that aims to promote research and technologies produced by promising individuals to its intended beneficiaries.