Sweet Potatoes in grocery store by Daniel Albany.
Few topics sparked more discussion among my old garden club buddies than the age-old conundrum: What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?
Grocers use both terms when labeling bins of fresh tubers, but I doubt many of us have eaten real yams. Yams, Dioscorea, are a food staple throughout the islands of the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and tropical Africa. Yams are quite bland and loaded with carbohydrates. Usually, they are served with spicy sauces.
The sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, is a New World member of the morning glory family. Sweet potato cultivation is limited to warmer climates because these tubers require a sustained period of temperatures above seventy degrees to mature. For more information on the difference between these two tubers and a sweet potato recipe; CLICK HERE