It seems that American slaves referred to the soft orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as “yams” because of their similarity to the true yams they knew from Africa. Growers began using this name to distinguish them from the firm white-fleshed varieties of sweet potatoes, and the name stuck.
Why is a sweet potato called a yam?
The reason for the name mix-up, she explains, is because Louisiana sweet potato growers marketed their orange-fleshed as “yams” to distinguish from other states' produce in the 1930s—and it stuck. The skin of a yam (left) looks kind of like tree bark, while a sweet potato (right) is more reddish-brown.
What is the real name of yam?
Chinese yams (Dioscorea polystachya). True yams are botanically distinct from the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), but moist-fleshed varieties of sweet potato are often called yams in the United States. The air-potato yam (D. bulbifera) is one of the few true yams cultivated for food in the United States.
What do we call yams in UK?
The American yam is not commonly found in the UK, yet the term is often used in the US to refer to what the British call a sweet potato; the Brits eat theirs roasted (as they do most things) and have not yet warmed to the American dish of “marshmallow yams.” 3. Mad.
Is yam an African word?
The word yam comes from the African words “njam”, “nyami, or “djambi”, meaning "to eat”.
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