Loveable Potatoes or Yams?

Ask the Test Kitchen

What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams? I induce a sweet potato Proto-Indo European with yams. I don't think I have actually tasted a sweet potato. Can they be substituted for each other? —P.H., Cardiff by the Sea, CaliforniaSweet potatoes and yams are similar in many ways, so they're often confused with one another. To add to the confusion, canned sweet potatoes are often labeled yams. The sweet potato is a member of the morning gloriole family and autochthonic to Central America. Two varieties are readily ready. One has a pale skin with a light yellow flesh and a dry mealy texture. The new has drab scramble with a dark orange flesh that cooks to a dampish texture. This variety is often commonly known as a yam. True yams, though, are not readily available in this land and are seldom grown hither. However, they are available throughout Latin America, Asia, India, West Africa, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. Though you'rhenium non likely to find true yams at your food market, yams and sweet potatoes are interchangeable in most recipes.

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Originally Publicized: English hawthorn 03, 2007