Ube

Here's Luc having a taste of ube ice cream. We had a hankering for ube every few months or so in Texas, but considering that the Austin area isn't exactly teeming with Filipinos, ube is not really in high demand. What is "ube," you ask? It's a purple yam, which is widely found throughout South and Southeast Asia, as well as Oceania. According to Wikipedia:

Ube (or ubi) is the Filipino word for purple yam (Dioscorea alata). It contains pigments that gives its violet color. In India, this vegetable is known as ratalu or violet yam or the Moraga Surprise. In Japan, it is called murasaki imo. In Tonga: ʻufi (and is considered there as a royal food), in Hawaiʻi: uhi, in Tahiti: ufi. In the Philippines, ube is cooked with sugar and eaten as a sweetened dessert or jam called ube halaya which is a bright violet color. Ube is also an ingredient in the fruity dessert halo halo, another popular Filipino dessert.