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Stacy Conradt
Thanksgiving Dinner Conversation: Yams & Sweet Potatoes
by Stacy Conradt - November 20, 2007 - 9:40 AM

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Before Halloween, Stacy Conradt filled us up with trivia treats about our favorite sweets. She’s back again for another food series leading up to Thanksgiving.

sweetpotato.jpg1) Sweet potatoes are NOT yams. Yams are native to Asia and Africa and are rarely seen in the U.S. and Canada, although you can sometimes find them in more tropical regions. Yams and sweet potatoes (pictured ===>) are in two different botanical categories.

2) About 40 percent of sweet potatoes in the U.S. come from North Carolina.

3) Despite this fact, Vardaman, Mississippi, claims to be the Sweet Potato Capital of the World. The National Sweet Potato Festival is held there the first week of November every year.

baked_sweet_potato_fries.jpg4) Sweet potato fries are delicious. Here’s a recipe. (Disclaimer: this may be a biased opinion.)

5) Although there’s no scientific study, many people in Africa think that so many twins are born there because of the high rate of yam consumption (NOT sweet potato).

6) During the Civil War, the sweet potato was used as a coffee substitute when coffee beans were scarce. The veggie was cut into small pieces, dried, ground and brewed.

7) George Washington grew sweet potatoes at Mount Vernon.

Tomorrow: Pumpkin Pie. Yesterday: Cranberry Sauce.

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Comments (19)

  1. no, you’re not biased…sweet potato fries ARE delicious…a local hamburger place offers them, mixed w/ regular fries and they are a treat to eat…plus, I believe they are good for you as well…

    posted by donner on 11-20-2007 at 10:14 am

  2. We have a veggie in Peru called a CAMOTE and I never know if it is a sweet potato or a yam. In any case, they are delicious. You can fry it, mash it (with a little orange zest and honey… you could die), boil it. YUM.

    posted by GTT on 11-20-2007 at 10:22 am

  3. Just looked it up… it is a sweet potato!

    posted by GTT on 11-20-2007 at 10:22 am

  4. Isn’t there a sweet potato type that is called a YAM? I thought I heard about that on the Food Network. Having Yams and Sweet Potatoes and then a Sweet Potato variety called yam makes things even more confusing.

    posted by Beth on 11-20-2007 at 10:46 am

  5. This is pathetic – I teach nutrition and didn’t know the yam/sweet potato thing. Sweet potato fries are yummy – it’s the only way I’ll eat sweet potatoes.

    posted by Nola on 11-20-2007 at 11:22 am

  6. “Yam” sounds really funny if you say it out loud a few times in a row. Fun fact!

    posted by Nat X on 11-20-2007 at 11:27 am

  7. NatX – You’re right! It does sound really funny if you say it out loud a few times in a row. Kind of like a cartoon!

    posted by Lori on 11-20-2007 at 12:04 pm

  8. Jill Connor Browne is THE SWEET POTATO QUEEN. You should read her hi-larious books!!

    posted by Amy on 11-20-2007 at 12:16 pm

  9. “About 40 percent of sweet potatoes in the U.S. come from North Carolina.”

    That’s a new fun fact about my state! I guess I should have known, because we do eat a lot of sweet potatoes this time of year. They’re good in a casserole or as a pie, or just baked in the oven and covered in butter, but I’ve never tried sweet potato fries. I’ll have to try them.

    posted by scoobnut on 11-20-2007 at 12:17 pm

  10. yamyamyamyamyamyam… (giggle)

    Sweet potato fries are AMAZING!

    And the way we eat sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving? With marshmellows. That is the ONLY way to eat them.

    posted by Erin on 11-20-2007 at 12:24 pm

  11. “I yam what I yam” Popeye, who preferred spinach.

    posted by fixedgear on 11-20-2007 at 1:24 pm

  12. Hmmm…I have to disagree, Erin. I found a recipe a few years ago for sweet potatoes in brown sugar and bourbon sauce that is one of the top five reasons I’m glad I have taste buds. It’s sweet, but not TOO sweet. And the bourbon gives the flavor a nice kick.

    posted by David on 11-20-2007 at 2:01 pm

  13. The reason some sweet potatoes are called yams is one part nostalgia and one part marketing. The true yam is a common food in West Africa, the region from which people were taken as slaves to North America. Unable to get their preferred root veggie in their new circumstances, they considered sweet potatoes a sort of substitute and used the familiar name “yam.” It became a common term in some parts of the South.

    Then, in the 20th century, a new variety of sweet potato with a darker orange color was developed. (Earlier varieties were yellow.) The developers wanted to sell them under a distinctive name, so they called them “yams.” Thus the term spread much more widely.

    posted by Coeli on 11-20-2007 at 2:29 pm

  14. Sweet potato fries are delicious!

    For Thanksgiving, the way we fix sweet potatoes is to slice them up, layer them with orange slices, with this relish-like mixture of minced cranberries, hazelnuts, and ginger on top, and then bake it. So tasty, and not sickeningly sweet like all the candied/marshmallow type recipes.

    posted by M on 11-20-2007 at 3:35 pm

  15. I grew up thinking I hated sweet potatoes because THE ONLY way they were ever served to me was with marshmallows and raisins and tons of brown sugar, baked until it was this pulpy sweet goo……I still cringe thinking about it. As an adult I was served a plain baked sweet potato with just a little dab of butter on it and realized just how wonderful and delicious a food it was. I have served plain sweet potatoes to my son since he was a baby. The first time he encountered the dreaded thanksgiving casserole at a friends house he was horrified.

    posted by Cynthia on 11-20-2007 at 4:19 pm

  16. Sweet Potato Fries! Yum!
    First had these at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN.

    posted by Jan on 11-20-2007 at 7:00 pm

  17. I’ll add to the chorus – sweet potato fries are even better than regular french fries. Especially when they are thin and crispy.

    I first had sweet potatoes about 6 years ago. I made them at Thankgiving for my grandmother. Turns out I love them as well. Now I make them every Thanksgiving. I bake them, then mix with oj, top with brown sugar and butter, and bake again. Muy delicioso!

    posted by Jill on 11-20-2007 at 10:18 pm

  18. Anyone tried a type of deep fried Yam dim sum called Wu Kok before? Sweet potatoes from Japan are the sweetest. When you boil Yam, the skin tends to peel off by itself slowly, revealing its purple body – delicious!
    Sweet potatoes can be boiled, steamed, mashed, baked, grilled, deep fried, served in a savoury soup/broth or coconut milk, hot or cold. List goes on…

    posted by Julian K on 11-21-2007 at 12:30 am

  19. cogito ergo spud.

    I think therefore I yam.

    posted by Paige on 11-21-2007 at 7:30 am

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