What is the deal with people not knowing the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?

Question

I don't like yams. I absolutely love sweet potatoes. I can't figure out why people mix them up so much but I am starting to see that even big companies like Outback Steakhouse and baby food makers like Gerber are calling yams "sweet potatoes."

Sweet potatoes are YELLOW on the inside and lighter in color on the outside than yams. They have an almost chewy firmness and they taste like a potato, only sweet.

Yams are ORANGE and they are mushy and stringy when cooked. They actually have an almost squash-like flavor. They do not taste like a potato at all.

So what is the deal? Who knows the difference between them and WHY is everyone so confused???

Answer 1

I always thought they were the same thing until I read your question, so I looked. Here's what i found..
"In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties."

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html

Answer 2

I grew up on a farm and I don't know any difference between sweet potatoes and yams, and out sweet potatoes were very dark orange inside, and very sweet..
Wgat yams I've seen are the same , but I think there are yellow yams, even white, But I never ate one.

Answer 3

Here in Australia, the orange ones are Sweet Potato (and they tast very yummy, sweetish, with a distinctive flavour) , and those yellowy pale ones are turnip things that taste gross. In Aust., yams are a natural vegetable that the Aborigines used to dig up and eat- they aren't big maybe 3 inches long, tops, but they are especially good cooked in oil like chips (fries).

Answer 4

i didn't know
at holiday times, i would ask for sweet pots. and the guy would always pont me to the yams-same thing he'd say,,,at several stores over many years

Answer 5

You wasted your points on this.

I like Sweet Potatoes.

Answer 6

Its just a common misconception, because many people dont even know there is a difference.

=]

Answer 7

There's a difference?

Answer 8

they haven't watched the Food Network long enough LOL

Answer 9

Thanks, I never knew anyone confused about it.