Sweet potato
Though creamy vegetable pie recipes date back to Medieval Europe, sweet potato pie appears in the southern United States from the early colonial days. The use of sweet potatoes in Southern and African-American cuisine traces back to West African influences. The sweet potato, which is native to the Americas, was likely used by African slaves as an alternative to the yam found in their homeland. Sweet potato pie applies European pie making customs to the preparation of sweet potatoes. Recipes for sweet potato pie first appeared in printed cookbooks in the 18th century, where it was included with savory vegetable dishes. By the 19th century, sweet potato pie was more commonly classified as a dessert.