yam

The store was on Rye Lane, a lively high street where Caribbean grocers stack yams next to beauty and phone repair shops.

The pomegranates, squash and apples were in season, pink guavas were so ripe you could smell their heady scent from a distance, and nutrient-packed yams were ready for the holidays.

Mountain yam, bamboo pith and shoots, lotus seeds and gorgon fruit, which Yin says “looks like chickpeas, and tastes like tapioca,” all appear on his menu, too.

The result -- 30 tonnes of yams and cassava per hectare, compared to the typical five.

I ordered my usual: fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, candied yams and a biscuit slathered in grape jelly butter.