They are thought to have originated in Central or South America and are popular in the American South and available across the globe. Sold year-round, sweet potatoes have an extended shelf life due to a curing process after harvest which increases their storage capabilities over a year.
You will find sweet potatoes pre-peeled and cooked and sold in cans or frozen. There are two main types of sweet potatoes , both of which are elongated yellow or orange tubers that taper to a point at each end. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin and pale yellow flesh. It's not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety which is most often and incorrectly called a yam has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a sweet, vivid orange flesh and a moist texture.
There also is the Purple Sweet Potato. The sweet potato is used in both savory and sweet dishes, most often baked, mashed or fried. When it is pureed it can be used in soups as well as baked goods and desserts, including, of course, sweet potato pie. It has also become a staple on the Thanksgiving table, most often as sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.
The true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine Dioscorea batatas and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato. It's a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, with over varieties available worldwide, and slowly becoming more common in the United States.
The yam tuber has brown or black scaly skin which resembles the bark of a tree and off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety. They are at home growing in tropical climates, primarily in South America and the Caribbean, as well as Africa, where they originated. Generally sweeter than the sweet potato, this tuber can grow over seven feet in length and top pounds. A staple in African cuisine , yams are most often boiled, roasted or fried.
Their long shelf life of 6 months allows them to be a dependable food source during times of poor farming—the yam is a much more difficult crop to harvest than the sweet potato. Starchier and more potato-like, usually not very sweet. Versatile; flavor easily altered by cooking methods. All are more slender in appearance than a potato and have tapered ends; however each of these does have a different flavor profile.
Varies considerably. Some yams are the size and shape of small potatoes; others can grow up to 1. Skins may be dark brown or light pink; insides white, yellow, purple, or pink. Very nutritious. Has more sugar, protein, calcium, iron, sodium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, and water than yams do.
In the United States, the yam and sweet potato conflation was further inculcated thanks to a marketing campaign for the trade group Louisiana Sweet Potatoes. Researcher Julian C. Miller developed a new variety of sweet potato at the Louisiana Experiment Station that had creamier, less stringy flesh, a more tender skin, and a higher content of vitamin A than the other sweet potatoes on the market.
But the confusion persists among the American public, and the perpetuation of sweet potatoes as yams is a testament to how deeply West African food traditions undergird American cuisine.
The mix-up has roots in the structural racism that built the country, but the use of sweet potatoes as yams by African-Americans is ultimately a result of resilience and innovation. By Margaret Eby Updated February 06, Save FB Tweet More. Sweet Potatoes or Yams.
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