Jay asks: What’s the difference between a Yam and a Sweet Potato? Can I use them interchangeably?

Yams and sweet potatoes are both fleshy, orange tubers, that’s true, but you’d be hard pressed to find a REAL YAM in a regular supermarket. For years, food companies have been putting sweet potatoes into cans and mislabeling them “yams.”

The confusion between yams and sweet potatoes probably began in the early 1950’s when Louisiana sweet potato growers started using the term “yam” as a marketing tool. The Food and Drug Administration requires that canned yams also have “sweet potato” on the label.

Yams are a starchy tuberous tropical vegetable native to Asia and Africa. They are very bland and very, very dry when cooked. Occasionally, you’ll find yams (sometimes) in Latin American, Japanese or African grocery stores, but more often than not, they are actually sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes come in several sizes and colors (yellow, orange, red, brown, purple and beige). Darker sweet potatoes tend to be more flavorful.

• Louisiana: The standard supermarket sweet potato. Moist and delicately sweet.
• Garnet and Jewel: Smaller, with deep orange-red skins and flesh.
• Jersey: Light in color and a bit drier than other sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes may look hearty, but they’re actually quite perishable. Look for smooth, bruise-free skins with pointed ends. Use them within a week of buying and store them in a cool, dry place.

To (finally!) answer your question, Mama wouldn’t use real yams (if you find them) and sweet potatoes interchangeably because yams are so dry and basically flavorless. You can fry yams into chips, but they are better suited for stews or soups that have a lot of liquid.

Here’s a terrific sweet potato recipe… enjoy!

Just finished voting and on my way home I was thinking about the swing states… no, not their political impact, but about the food that comes from those places.

GP is right… I’m always thinking about food.

Friends are coming over to the house tonight for a potluck dinner to watch the election returns, so I thought, why not have each person bring something (easy) representing one of the swing states?

I’m doing the two big items, the Smithfield Ham (Virginia) and the Cincinnati Chili (Ohio).

For appetizers, someone is bringing a huge platter of Wisconsin cheese. North Carolina is represented by Sweet Potato Tater Tots (because you can’t really ask a guest to do the barbecue thing, especially last minute).

One friend wanted to bring Loose Meat Sandwiches to represent Iowa, but we had enough entrees so she opted for corn on the cob (we did need a veg in there somewhere).

We’ve got dessert covered: A Florida Key Lime Pie, New Hampshire Pumpkin Bread and Shoofly Pie from Pennsylvania (which I’m very excited about because I’ve never had it before).

That leaves Nevada. We really couldn’t come up with anything for Nevada… so in honor of the ubiquitous buffets available in casinos across the state, we’re going to serve BUFFET STYLE and honor Nevada in that way.

Looks like we’ve got plenty of food, which is a good thing… because it could be a loooong night!