An article that my sister brought to my attention a little while back. Well, at least it was amusing to us. =p

I yam what I yam

Today's question, brought to you by Knight-Ridder news agency is: What's the difference between a sweet potato and a yam? First, potatoes are tubers. Sweet potatoes are roots. Also, U.S. growers would like for all of us to stop writing two words for sweet potatoes. They insist the proper spelling is sweetpotato — one word. There was no word on whether Dan Quail would add an "e" or not.

A real yam is grown primarily in Africa and the Caribbean, and is darker on the outside, pure white inside. The sweet potato is copper-coloured with a golden-red flesh. The confusion began when slaves compared the sweet potato with the "nyamis" of their homeland. Nyamis became yams, and the two terms became interchangeable. The confusion continues today as the duo are often mislabelled.

The original article in the Toronto Star

Until next time, this is Gladys YAM.