Is It, Or Isn't It?

Here's an answer to an age old question that surfaces this time of year . . . Is it a yam, or is it a sweet potato?

First Things First.

A yam is not a sweet potato.

A sweet potato is not a yam.

(Nor is it even a potato -- it's a root vegetable!)

Huffington Post, November 26, 2013
Renee Jacques & Andy McDonald

Yams are from Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Central America.  A theory for the name "yam" could refer back to the slave-era of the South wherein the African word, "nyami" (translation: to eat) was shortened to "yam."

Thanks to the FDA regulating food labeling in the United States, there is not a standard with regard to identity of sweet potatoes or yams.  However, the USDA requires sweet potatoes to be labeled as such, and not as yams. 

Sweet Potato-Apple Cobbler
By Kitty Forbes, Georgia ~ Southern Living ~ Click Photo for Recipe

Back in the 1930's "yam" became a marketing term for the sweet potato in grocery stores in selling their fresh and canned products.   It might have simply been a preference for a "4-letter vs. 12-letter" word abbreviation for store signage in advertising the product.

                                                                    

                         Sweet Potato Soup w/Maple Bacon                         Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
                            By Realfoodandicecream.com                        By AverieCooks by Averie Sunshine

            Click photos for recipes.

Sweet potatoes are grown in the United States with a primary concentration of production coming from the great States of North Carolina, Louisiana, California, Mississippi and Texas (in that order).  Harvesting kicks into gear mid-to-late August through December, with the November - December crop being the must luscious and flavorful.  

The Best Roasted Sweet Potatoes
The Food Lab ~ J. Kneji Lopez-Alt ~ Serious Eats ~ Click Photo for Recipe

Their blooms hint to us that they are of the Morning Glory family.

How do you tell them apart?

Yam:  If it's ugly and hairy, sometimes cylindrical, starchy and dry (more like a yellow potato).  If it's (typically) orange, thin skinned and moist and a tuber shape, then it's a sweet potato.  

In Asia, the sweet potato is purple in color.  

In other cultures, lime and sweet potato are mixed to dye cloth. 

Photo:  Foodcolor.com

The pigments in purple sweet potato are called anthocyanins 
which have been noted as being 
"among the most desirable for their superior color and stability."



Sweet potatoes are beneficial for your health in a number of ways:

Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1 medium (4.6 oz / 130 g) Calories 100   Calories from Fat 0 *Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.	Amt per Serving	%DV*		Amt per Serving	%DV*
	Total Fat 0g	0%		Total Carbohydrate 23g	8%
	Cholesterol 0mg	0%		Dietary Fiber 4g	16%
	Sodium 70mg	3%		Sugars 7g
	Potassium 440mg	13%		Protein 2g
	Vitamin A	120%		Calcium	4%
	Vitamin C	30%		Iron	4%

✽  Vitamin B6 (reduces the chemical homocysteine that is linked with degenerative diseases, including heart attacks); 

✽  Vitamin C (bones and teeth; colds and flu); 

✽  Vitamin D (immune system);

✽  Iron (energy / red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress);

✽  Magnesium (relaxation and anti-stress); 

✽  Potassium (electrolytes regulating heartbeat and nerve signals); 

✽  Slow to release sugars into the bloodstream (without sugar spikes linked to fatigue and weight gain); and 

✽  High in carotenoids (precursor to Vitamin A in your body -- eyesight and antioxidants to boost immunity).

•.¸✽✽¸.•

Loaded Sweet Potato Skins
Visit Sally's Baking Addiction ~ Click on Photo for her Page & Recipe

Max Fleischer's "I Yam What I Yam" Short Released on 9/29/1933
Music by Sammy Timberg

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