Tubers

Tuber: noun
1. a short, fleshy usually underground stem bearing minute scale leaves each of which bears a bud in its axil and is potentially able to produce a new plant.
2. one who travels down a water current in a rubber tube.

Webster.com did not have the second definition listed, but I went tubing last weekend near Lava Hot Springs and I definitely saw signs that directing tubers to go this way or that, and I followed because I was a tuber.

But this post is mainly concerning the first definition of tuber. This is one of my first food mysteries. I never quite understood the difference between a yam and a sweet potato. And as everyone was telling me how healthy sweet potatoes are, I became even more confused. My sister called me up one day explaining that she had purchased a tuber that was labeled as a sweet potato at the store with the intention of making sweet potato fries. (yum!) However, when she got home she realized that the tuber she fad purchased had white flesh, not the orange flesh she was expecting.

So... what is the difference between a yam and a sweet potato and why is the American food industry all mixed up?

Misconception #1: Sweet potatoes are orange. I call this a misconception because it is only half true. In fact there are two varieties of sweet potatoes widely available in the U.S. one has orange flesh and the other a whitish/ yellowish flesh. Both taste great!

Misconception #2: Yams are orange. False. And if you have not traveled to Africa or South American it is unlikely that you have ever seen a true yam, never mind eaten one. Around the time I was unraveling the yam/ sweet potato conspiracy a friend of mine traveled to Africa and was able to eat true yams, which have white flesh and are mild in flavor. Here is a picture he took of a yam plant.



The yam is growing underground and in order to be harvested the plant has to be removed from the ground. The rest of the pictures he sent me are actually of another tuber known as cassava, (Cassava starch is what tapioca is made from) but he assures me that the process is similar in yams.

After the tubers are collected they are peeled, cut, cooked and eaten in a number of different ways.



So the next time you pick up that big can of "Yams" and turn it around and see "Ingredients: Sweet Potatoes" you can think about a little Ghanaian boy who is actually eating yams for dinner, and know that you, in fact, are not.