Cooking for Thanksgiving is a monumental task. My father has already started to prepare the feast for his side of the family, consisting of only 8 people, yet he’s slaving away at the oven and stove, making turkey and stuffing. Personally, though, sweet potato casserole is my favorite Thanksgiving dish.

According to fourpoundsflour.com, historians believe that the first recipe for “potato pudding,” as it was referred to, was published in the first American cookbook in 1796. By 1830, sweet potato recipes had become relatively popular in the global kitchen. But it wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that marshmallows began to trend.

Marshmallows were originally viewed as something of an extravagance due to their handmade production and high cost. They were often used as substitutes for whipped cream or meringue as a way to subvert the heavy labor required to craft the two toppings. It wasn’t until 1918, however, that the first true sweet potato casserole recipe was unveiled.

In a trade journal called Sweet Potatoes and Yams was a recipe for a dish called “candied yams,” and you can view this original recipe below:

As a nutritional dish, sweet potato casserole certainly does not slouch.

“I love it. My mom’s from the South so it’s a tradition that we have sweet potato casserole. Sweet potatoes are healthy, but you should cut back the sugar and the marshmallows so that the whole dish is healthy,”  Mrs. McManus, the school’s Cooking and Contemporary Life Issues teacher, said in a brief interview.

Mr. Rossi, one of Central’s gym teachers, also had an opinion on the value of sweet potatoes, “I used to not like it. Now I do. It’s fascinating. I switched from the Russet potato to the sweet potato for nutritional value and flavor.”

Native Southerner and senior Greg Weiss also told me of his love for sweet potato casserole, “If Paula Deen likes it, it’s fine by me. I lived in Georgia for eight years so sweet potatoes are pretty popular, #godawgs.”

Overall, the school seems to have a pretty positive reaction to sweet potato casserole. I think we should all have some this Thanksgiving!