I was talking to a friend last night and we were trying to decide what the major difference was between the sweet potato and the yam. This brings up Thanksgiving because my mom always makes her signature dish: Sweet Potato Casserole, in which the recipe calls for canned yams. The recipe has sweet potato in the title but uses yams- do we see the trend here? People are confused. And personally, I didn’t actually know the difference. I thought there might be some other people who would be interested in learning so I decided to do some of my specialty… internet research.
Sweet Potatoes
We all know what these are, but here is an in-depth wikipedia description: Popular in the American South, these yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called “yam” in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.
Yams
The true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.
Slowly becoming more common in US markets, the yam is a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets, with over 150 varieties available worldwide.
Generally sweeter than than the sweet potato, this tuber can grow over seven feet in length.
The word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning “to eat,” and was first recorded in America in 1676.
The yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree and off-white, purple or red flesh (NOT ORANGE), depending on the variety. They are at home growing in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Yams contain more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have a higher moisture content. They are also marketed by their Spanish names, boniato and ñame.
Why the confusion?
Firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties in the US. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties.
Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!
Overall, sweet potatoes are more readily available in the United States and they have high levels of beta-carotene (vitamin A) and other nutrients and the Yam doesn’t, but the sweet potato also has more sugar (hence the name sweet). This is probably the reason I love them so much. Apparently you can substitute Yams for sweet potatoes in recipes, but don’t eat a YAM raw because unlike the sweet potato, it is toxic when eaten before cooking!
I hope this was interesting to someone else besides me and sorry I don’t have a photo of a yam prepared. If I happen to run across a Yam at the grocery store I am going to buy it so that I can taste the real thing… I’ll keep you all posted!
Brittany Mullins, HHC
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
fascinating!!! i’ve always wondered what the difference- thanks so much for clearing that up!
i looooove sweet potatoes
happy friday!
The question I am asked the most is what is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. It is not easy to explain but here is the official answer from North Carolina sweet potatoes — In the United States there is no difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Sweet potatoes have been called yams for a long time. The term- yam – has been used to refer to an orange, moist fleshed sweet potato.
Very interesting! I always thought yams and sweet potatoes were the same thing
I’ve tasted both, but never knew what the difference was! And definitely buy yams if you see them–especially the PURPLE ones–so good!
Thanks for the great info
Wow thanks for that bit of knowledge! I, too, had no idea what the difference was. Maybe it’s because I’m from Alabama. My mom often did that exact same thing your mom does with the “Sweet potato casserole” which only furthered my confusion for many years lol
Am I the only one who thinks that the word “tuber” is funny?
That was definitely interesting! I always thought they were one in the same…but creepy that a yam is TOXIC before cooking! Eek.
And I definitely think the word tuber is funny, Arielle.
whoaaa…yams are toxic when raw!? that’s good to know! thanks for all the factoids! sweet potatoes are the bomb dizzle.
I always wondered about this, thanks!
Yes, the word “tuber” is funny.
I LOVE the REAL yams and sweet potatoes! As a Ghanian yams are a yummy, expensive cultural food staple. I already know about the toxicity, we are VERY careful about handling them.I’ve actually NEVER had a fake yam before, I eat the REAL ones! Haha! YUM!
dang…..i didnt even know that….i just thought they were
the same things…
well now i know….thanks!!
i would like to try a yam one day…….anyone know where i can get one?
Well it’s a good thing you wrote this down. I always figured the sweet potato was the sweet potato until I was told the other day that I was wrong and that it was indeed a yam that we had on our plates. This made me realize that i really didn’t know what the difference was (although I was reluctant to believe that i’d been under the wrong impression all my life about this awesome tuber), so this has really helped clarify things!
Well, that explains it, mai no? Thanks for the info.
Dana Zia
I Yam what I Yam
that was so helpful. thx~
Thank you very much for the information. I was eating a sweet potato for dinner and wasn’t sure if it was a yam or sweet potato. You are not the only one who wants to know these sorts of things.