True Yams are native to Africa and Asia. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. Recognizable by the blackish or brown, bark-like skin and white, purple, or reddish flesh.
Among the numerous varieties of sweet potatoes grown in North America, there are two major types:
Firm sweet potatoes, which have golden skin and paler flesh.
Soft sweet potatoes, which have copper skin and orange flesh.
In the picture left to right: New Jersey Sweet Potatoes (aka White Sweet Potato, aka Yellow Jersey) Purple Sweet Potato (aka Stokes Purple) and Garnet Sweet Potato (these are colloquially known as yams in the US). Other varieties not pictures are Japanese Sweet Potato (purple skin with creamy white interior) Jewel and Beauregard (both similar in appearance to Garnet). The purple sweet potatoes are the sweetest; Jersey sweet potatoes are the mildest and driest; all can be used in any recipe calling for sweet potatoes.
8 sweet-potatoe related Recipes
Widen Your Culinary Horizon
-
Rising to the occasion
When you care enough to cook the best Prune soufflés
-
Collection
Trending now: Seitan: “the vegetable meat”
-
In the kitchen. Happening Now
The latest
Double Check
Do you really want to delete the list, ?
This won't delete the recipes and articles you've saved, just the list.