Sweet Potato confusion

[313guy]

So I took 313gal's list to the grocery store yesterday. On it was "4 cups of sweet potatoes". In the produce was a huge display marked Yams on sale for 40 some cents per pound. On the boxes stacked nearby containing back stock were the words Yams and Sweet Potatoes. I grabbed three of the larger tubers, which surely will equal more than 4c.

As I continued through the produce department, I saw two more displays, though much smaller, with specific types of sweet potatoes. They were pricier, so I stuck with what was in my cart.

This morning I got curious and went googling in hopes of learning something. Here is a quote from the Wiki article on sweet potatoes:


Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often mislabeled a "yam" in parts of North America, the sweet potato is botanically very distinct from a genuine yam, which is native to Africa and Asia and belongs to the monocot family Dioscoreaceae. To prevent confusion, the United States Department of Agriculture requires sweet potatoes labeled as "yams" to also be labeled as "sweet potatoes".

Well, that explains both names on the box. But double labeling to avoid confusion?

Are real yams even imported? Wonder if any husbands sent shopping with sweet potatoes on the list came home without 'cuz all they had were yams.

[spaceman]

It's part of a crazy master plan, designed to drive us crazy. I like those orange dudes quite a bit, but what I like even more, is the white-ish colored sweet potatoes. Yep, they look like a "normal" potato inside, but they taste even sweeter than the orange yam-type sweet potatoes. Now, are you confusier?

[313guy]

Originally Posted by spaceman

It's part of a crazy master plan, designed to drive us crazy.

And it fits that you are part of it!

Originally Posted by spaceman

I like those orange dudes quite a bit, but what I like even more, is the white-ish colored sweet potatoes. Yep, they look like a "normal" potato inside, but they taste even sweeter than the orange yam-type sweet potatoes. Now, are you confusier?

The white variant is what the more expensive ones were, that and what looked more red or even purple. Since they were for a recipe, I opted for the more generic approach...pseudo yams.

[John James]

You two are both wrong. This is a "Sweet Potato"....

[JohnMac]

"I yam what I yam" - Popeye

That probably doesn't help.

[Bob_in_OKC]

At some point, it would seem reasonable to let go of the technicality. There's a festival in east Texas that has called itself the "Yamboree" since 1935, a name they chose because the so-called yam (sweet potato) was the major cash crop in the area.

[rnorton]

Originally Posted by 313guy

Are real yams even imported? Wonder if any husbands sent shopping with sweet potatoes on the list came home without 'cuz all they had were yams.

Yeah, they're imported in small numbers but they're close to flavorless. Sweet potatoes can always be substituted in recipes and will always taste better.

[rnorton]

Originally Posted by Bob_in_OKC

At some point, it would seem reasonable to let go of the technicality. There's a festival in east Texas that has called itself the "Yamboree" since 1935, a name they chose because the so-called yam (sweet potato) was the major cash crop in the area.

If you call sweet potatoes 'yams', what would you call yams? They're not even related.

[botrytis]

Read below link.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diffe...#axzz2CbuLfEOE

[bentpencil]

If you think that's bad, read the label on a can of pumpkin pie filling. The last one I saw was made out of banana squash with pumpkin flavoring added.

[botrytis]

Originally Posted by bentpencil

If you think that's bad, read the label on a can of pumpkin pie filling. The last one I saw was made out of banana squash with pumpkin flavoring added.

Pumpkin is a squash of sorts - a winter squash. The pumpkins in the field and jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are usually not used for pie.

[bentpencil]

Originally Posted by botrytis

Pumpkin is a squash of sorts - a winter squash. The pumpkins in the field and jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are usually not used for pie.

Isn't that what I said? Pumpkins generally aren't used for pumpkin pie filling.

[JohnMac]

I'm not a farmer but I manage a fall festival for one. What we sell as a pie pumpkin is a small, squatty, thick walled pumpkin. It is darker than a typical jack-o-lantern or "carver". In appearance, it is much more like a pumpkin than what we call winter squash. Trying to pass banana squash off for pumpkin pie would be a hard sell. As botrytis stated, they are all closely related.

[Robinhawaii]

Slaves would call sweet potatoes yams due to it being similar to the familiar yam root from Africa. Some specialty stores carry true yams if you are in the mood to make Fufu.

Aloha,

Rob

[Robinhawaii]

Originally Posted by JohnMac

I'm not a farmer but I manage a fall festival for one. What we sell as a pie pumpkin is a small, squatty, thick walled pumpkin. It is darker than a typical jack-o-lantern or "carver". In appearance, it is much more like a pumpkin than what we call winter squash. Trying to pass banana squash off for pumpkin pie would be a hard sell. As botrytis stated, they are all closely related.

Golden Hubbard Squash are used by Mrs. Smith's Pies to make "pumkin Pies".

Aloha,

Rob