Roasted Camotitos

Camotes are an old-school Mexican favorite. In some ranchos in Mexico, they are slowly cooked in a piloncillo syrup (a syrup made from unrefined brown sugar; a traditional ingredient) and served in a bowl, to be mashed with cold milk. In major cities, they are a popular street food sold from a pushcart-turned-portable oven that you can hear a mile away because of a horn that vendors use that sounds like a train whistle. They sound it to let sweet potato-lovers that they are around and ready