Before you reach for the
candied yams
this Thanksgiving, there's something you need to know. They're not
actually yams! All this time, many Americans have been making the
mistake of calling sweet potatoes "yams." But there's actually a
difference. It turns out sweet potatoes and yams are not even related.
They are two different species of root vegetable with very different
backgrounds and uses.
So why the confusion? The U.S. government
has perpetuated the error of labeling sweet potatoes "yams." In most
cases sweet potatoes are labeled with both terms, which just adds to the
confusion. Since there are two types of sweet potatoes, one with creamy
white flesh and one with orange, the USDA labels the orange-fleshed
ones "yams" to distinguish them from the paler variety. Ok, so that sort
of makes sense. But why call the orange-fleshed ones "yams" in the
first place? So to understand the difference between yams and sweet
potatoes, we have to dig a little deeper (tuber pun intended).
Sweet potatoes (
Ipomoea batatas) come in two main varieties here in the States. One has a
golden skin with creamy white flesh and a crumbly texture. The other has a
copper skin with an orange flesh
that is sweet and soft. All sweet potato varieties generally have the
same shape and size -- they are tapered at the ends and much smaller
than the aforementioned yams.
Americans have been calling the
orange-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes "yams" since colonial times
when Africans saw familiarities in them to the tuberous variety. The
USDA decided to label them as "yams" to differentiate the two varieties.
Both varieties of sweet potato, including "yams" can be widely found in
supermarket.
Yams (family
Dioscoreaceae)
are native to Africa and Asia and other tropical regions. Yams are
starchy tubers that have an almost black bark-like skin and white,
purple or reddish flesh and come in
many varieties. The tubers can be as small as regular potatoes or grow upwards of five feet long.
The word
yam
comes from an African word, which means "to eat." The yam holds great
importance as a foodstuff because it keeps for a long time in storage
and is very valuable during the wet season, when food is scarce. For
eating, yams are typically peeled, boiled and mashed or dried and ground
into a powder that can be cooked into a porridge. Yams can be found in
international markets, such as those that specialize in Caribbean foods.
For more information on sweet potatoes, visit the
North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
For more on the nutritional value of sweet potatoes vs. yams, visit
Livestrong.com.
So, the big question is: What do you call sweet potatoes?
