Sweet Potatoes Three Ways (1660–1670) — May & Woolley at the Early-Modern Table

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Sweet Potatoes Three Ways (1660–1670) — Robert May & Hannah Woolley

Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — exploring how early modern English cooks transformed New World ingredients into elegant, comforting, and festive dishes fit for the season’s most abundant table.

Still Life of Autumn Fruits and Vegetables — shared image for the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series, evoking abundance and the early-modern feast.

A New World Root, Transformed by English Cooks

Sweet potatoes — known in 17th-century England as “Spanish Potatoes” — arrived through Spanish trade routes in the early 1500s. Originating in Central and South America, Ipomoea batatas traveled across the Atlantic decades before the white potato and quickly became associated with luxury, warmth, and even medicinal virtues.

By the time of Robert May and Hannah Woolley, sweet potatoes were considered both a delicacy and a curiosity: sweet, moist, filling, and ideal for combining with sugar, sack, spices, and butter. These dishes, though rarely seen on modern tables, shimmer with warmth and holiday resonance — a perfect trio for a historically inspired Thanksgiving feast.

Expanded Historical Notes: Sweet Potatoes in Early Modern England

New World Origins: Sweet potatoes were cultivated by Indigenous peoples across the Caribbean, Central America, and the Andes long before European contact. Their sweetness, vivid color, and adaptability made them an ideal export crop during the Age of Exploration.

Arrival via Spain: Spanish ships carried sweet potatoes to Europe in the early 1500s; they quickly spread through Mediterranean trade networks and then northward. They reached England by the 1520s–1530s, where they were sold as exotic novelties — often linked to aphrodisiac qualities and “warming” humoral properties.

“Spanish Potatoes” vs. “Potatoes”: Early modern English texts differentiate between:

• Spanish Potatoes — sweet potatoes
• Potatoes — the newly introduced white/Irish potato

May uses both terms; Woolley uses both interchangeably depending on the edition. In culinary practice, the sweet potato is the one combined with sugar, spices, and citrus.

Humoral Medicine: Sweet potatoes were classed as “hot and moist,” nourishing and gentle on the stomach. Combined with warming spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), sugar, or sack (fortified wine), they were thought to strengthen the body in cold months — making them an ideal winter dish.

Culinary Meaning: These recipes show how New World ingredients integrated into English feasting culture — sweet, rich, buttery, and festive. Serving them today forms a bridge between the Columbian Exchange and the modern Thanksgiving table.

Period Recipes (Three Ways)

1. Robert May — The Accomplisht Cook (1660)

“To butter Potatoes.”
From The Accomplisht Cook, Book V, p. 225 (1660).
Public link to May’s recipe

To butter Potatoes.
Take Potatoes and roast them, then peel them and slice them; then strew sugar, cinnamon, and salt on them, and put in a piece of butter; then toss them up, and serve them hot.

2. Hannah Woolley — The Queen-Like Closet (1670)

“To Preserve Potatoes.”
Book I, “To Preserve Potatoes.”
Public link to Woolley

To Preserve Potatoes.
Take your Potatoes, and slice them very thin, then boil them in water till they be tender; then take them up, and dry them, and boil Sugar and water to a thickness; then put in your Potatoes, with a little Rosewater, and so keep them for your use.

3. Woolley Tradition — Potato Pottage (17th c.)

Referenced across multiple household manuals of the 1650s–1670s; a warming household dish.

Potato Pottage.
Boil your Potatoes in fair water or broth till they be tender; then bruise them, and put to them strong broth, a little grated bread, sweet butter, and such herbs as you like; season it with Salt, and so serve it well stewed.

A. Modern Redaction — Butter’d Sweet Potatoes (Robert May, 1660)

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2–3 tbsp butter
• 1–2 tbsp sugar (to taste)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch salt

Method

1. Roast whole sweet potatoes until soft (400 °F / 200 °C, 45–60 minutes).
2. Peel and slice into rounds or wedges.
3. Toss in a hot pan with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Serve warm.

Taste: The closest early-modern ancestor of candied yams — warm, buttery, lightly spiced.

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B. Modern Redaction — Candied Sweet Potatoes in Syrup (Woolley, 1670)

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1–2 tsp rosewater (optional)
• Zest of ½ lemon or orange

Method

1. Boil sliced potatoes until just tender; drain and dry.
2. Make a syrup by heating sugar and water until thickened.
3. Add potatoes, rosewater, and zest; simmer gently 5–10 minutes.
4. Serve warm or cool as a sweet side dish.

Period Technique: Early-modern preserves often used light syrups scented with citrus and flowers.

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C. Modern Redaction — Sweet Potato Pottage (Woolley Tradition)

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1–2 tbsp butter
• 1–2 tbsp breadcrumbs (optional)
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg
• Optional herbs: parsley, marjoram

Method

1. Boil sweet potatoes in broth until tender.
2. Mash lightly and return to heat.
3. Add butter, breadcrumbs, herbs, and seasoning.
4. Stew gently until thick and comforting.

Comfort Food: Pottage is rustic and homey — the everyday counterpart to banquet dishes.

Glossary

• Spanish Potatoes: early-modern English term for sweet potatoes.
• Sack: a sweet fortified wine (ancestor of sherry).
• Rosewater: distilled rose essence used in sweet and savory dishes.

Dietary Notes

• Vegetarian
• Gluten-free (omit breadcrumbs in pottage)
• Vegan option: use plant butter

Sources & Further Reading

• Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1660).
• Hannah Woolley, The Queen-Like Closet (1670).
• Ken Albala, Food in Early Modern Europe.
• Sara Pennell, The Birth of the English Kitchen.

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Part of the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series — Exploring how early modern English recipes—roasts, puddings, and sauces from Robert May and his contemporaries—might inspire today’s holiday table.

h2>Series Index – All Posts in the Tudor & Stuart Thanksgiving Series

• Robert May’s Roast Turkey (1660) – Basting, Sauces, and Serving
• Barberry Sauce for Roast Meats (1660) – A Tudor & Stuart Alternative to Cranberries
• Green Pudding of Sweet Herbs – A Tudor Pudding for the Roasting Pan
• Soops and Mashed Potatoes – How a Tudor Luxury Became a Holiday Staple
• Sweet Potatoes Three Ways (1660–1670) – May & Woolley at the Table
• Butter’d French Beans (1660) – Robert May’s Table Greens
• A Grand 17th-Century Sallet of Roast Meats and Pickled Things
• Tudor Appetizers: Entrées de Table from The Accomplisht Cook
• Pumpion Pie (1658 & 1670) – The First English Pumpkin Pie

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AI Assistance Disclosure: Historical transcription, formatting, and redaction support were provided with the help of AI tools for research and editing. Some images were created or edited with AI tools. All historical interpretation and final text are curated and verified by the editor of Give It Forth.