With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you’re probably thinking about picking up some delicious sweet potatoes, and there’s no better place to find the best than at your local farmers’ market. Did you know that yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing, though?
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You’re unlikely to find a true yam at your farmers’ market, grocery store or restaurant. Although the terms “yam” and “sweet potato” are often used interchangeably, they come from different plant species. Sweet potatoes are native to the Americas, while yams originate from Africa.
There is incredible diversity in sweet potatoes. You can find varieties with snow-white, purple or the familiar bright orange flesh. In contrast, a real yam is starchy and dry, with a bark-like brown skin. Its flesh can be off-white, purple or red, and true yams are rarely found in the United States.
So why the confusion between the two names? In the 1930s, a new variety of sweet potato was cultivated, and to distinguish it from the existing varieties — smaller, drier, and with white or yellowish flesh — growers began calling this new type a “yam.” This term is rooted in the West African words nyam, nyami or enyame, which mean “to eat.”
Enslaved African communities were the first to use “yam” to refer to sweet potatoes, as the new variety reminded them of the yams they had eaten in Africa. Today, USDA regulations require that products labeled as “yams” also include the term “sweet potatoes,” reflecting the fact that they’re technically and biologically not yams at all. There are a few varieties you’re most likely to come across at the farmers’ market:
Beauregard: A copper-skinned potato, this is the most versatile of the three sweet potato varieties. When cooked, the flesh of the Beauregard retains its vivid orange color, making it ideal for baking, steaming, roasting and casseroles, and its delicate sweet taste blends with herbs and spices.
Diane, Red Garnet, Jewel: These varieties, with their moist orange flesh, are often called “yams” but are actually members of the sweet potato family. The Garnet and Diane are easily identified by their deep red or purple jackets. It is a good choice for pies, breads and any recipe that calls for mashed or grated sweet potatoes.
Golden Sweet: The golden variety — with its cream-colored skin and yellow, somewhat dry, mealy flesh — is always labeled “sweet potato.”
Debra Morris is a promotions coordinator for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association. Contact her at debramorris@pcfma.org.
Recipe: Sweet Potato Fries
ingredients
2 pounds of sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of five spice
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks a quarter- to half-inch wide and 3 inches long, and toss them with the oil. Mix the five spice, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and toss them with the sweet potatoes.
Spread wedges out on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake until brown and crisp on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.