The yam scam

1 servings

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-Are Sweet potaotes the same as yams? No...and yes. Literally and botanically speaking, the two are not related. Yams are large, starchy, edible turberous roots that belong to the genus DIOSCOREA. They grow in tropical and subtropical countries and require eight to ten months of warm weather to mature. Yams can grow two to three feet long and some can weigh as much as 80 pounds. According to horticulturist U.P. edrick, the word 'yam' means \"to eat\" in the dialect of Guinea. In the Unite States today it is possible to find true yams in some urban ispanic markets.

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Both the yam and the sweet potato grow underground and have yellowish-orange flesh, but there the similarity ends. Yet the two became entwined in this country by household vernacular in part through the work of a publicity campaign. Earlier this century, sweet potato promoters attached the word yam to the deep orange, moist fleshed varieties of sweet potatoes, and left the words "sweet potato" to the smaller, yellowish, and drier fleshed varieties. The two types of sweet potato are interchangeable in cooking, but bring different tastes, textures, and colors to your plate. Centennial and Puerto Rico are two popular moist fleshed (formerly called yam) varieties; Nemagold, New Jersey Orange, and Nugget have the lighter and drier (sweet potato) flesh. Today it is common to find either or both words used in supermarket, although sweet ptoato promoters wish we would all stop saying yam.

The North Caroline SweetPotato Commission currently urges the world to spell "sweetpotato" as one word. But it's an uphill battle. If you Mama called them yams, for certain you will too.

Origin: Old Farmer's Almanac, 1995 Canadian Edition. Shared by: Sharon Stevens, Sept/94.

From: Sharon Stevens Date: 09-23-94

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