By Maja Kunert
Anyone strolling through big-city cafés at the moment will increasingly come across drinks and pastries in a strikingly rich shade of purple. The colour doesn’t come from a bottle of dye, but from a tuber: ube, a purple yam from Southeast Asia, is seen as the next big food trend after matcha.
What exactly is ube?
Ube – pronounced "oo-beh" – is a type of yam that is grown mainly in the Philippines, where it has been part of everyday life for centuries. There it is as common a staple food as the sweet potato is in many other parts of the world, reports the magazine Der Feinschmecker. Although ube and purple sweet potatoes look almost identical, they are not botanically related. Ube belongs to the yam family, not to the morning glory family.
Also known as water yam or purple yam, the tuber stands out for its colour: the tubers range in colour from deep violet to bright lavender, explains Der Feinschmecker. In Germany, ube is usually used in food in the form of purée, powder, paste or syrup.