| Yams? Sweet Potatoes? Caveat Emptor! | |
by Judy Sobeloff, from the November 2005 newsletter
One busy Thanksgiving morning, about to cook her turkey, my friend Sarah accidentally hit a button on her oven that said “clean,” automatically locking it for the next 24 hours. Her futile attempts at tricking the unruly appliance into thinking the sun had set and risen again included shutting down the power to her entire apartment building, resetting the fuse box, and putting the oven in a cage with a dark cloth draped over it. Sarah was finally calmed down by a very nice lady at G.E. who assured her that, although there was no way anyone could physically pry the oven open, “Honey, it will all work out.”
In the spirit of the G.E. lady’s Thanksgiving Day compassion, here’s a little primer on yams and sweet potatoes. First, a cold truth: The yams sold in U.S. supermarkets (and our very own Co-op) are, in fact, all sweet potatoes. True yams are native to Africa, and can grow as large as seven feet long and weigh up to 600 pounds. (Try candying that for Thanksgiving!) The two are not even related. Yams belong to the same botanical family as grasses and lilies, while sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family.
The word “yam” comes from a word meaning “to eat,” perhaps because yams are a life-sustaining staple in certain parts of Africa and New Guinea, where they can be stored for months without refrigeration. Sweet potatoes, brought to the New World by Columbus a century before the arrival of white potatoes from South America, were originally known simply as potatoes. Despite their primary agricultural importance, most of the 150 true yam varieties are toxic unless cooked or soaked for several days.
Toxic yams are used to make products such as estrogen cream. Having puréed the Co-op’s organic sweet potatoes and cautiously fed them to my children as their first solid food, I was now curious to see what it was I had actually given them. Arriving at the old Co-op on the last morning of its existence, I found all the vegetables heaped atop the fruit in the center aisle. To my dismay, the last of the so-called sweet potatoes and yams lay in an unmarked box, thrown together to fend for themselves. Coming to the rescue (in the spirit of the G.E. lady), produce employee Scott explained, “The boxes come in and they’re labeled both ‘yams’ and ‘sweet potatoes.’ The boxes say one thing, the tags from the distributors say another thing, our computers say something else, and when we make a sign, depending on who makes it, it’ll say something else again. In my opinion, the bottom line is we don’t carry yams.”
Staring down at the miscellaneous tubers nestled at my feet, I learned from Scott that the darker, red-skinned ones are garnet sweet potatoes (commonly referred to as “yams”), while the lighter, yellow-skinned ones are jewel sweet potatoes. Back home, I read that “yams” have dark orange skin and flesh, whereas sweet potatoes have yellowish skin and ivory-colored flesh. Imagine my surprise upon discovering that the Co-op’s red-skinned “yams” had ivory flesh! Imagine my increased surprise, the plot thickening, when red-skinned “yams” from the new Co-op had orange flesh! What had happened during the move?
Determined to get to the bottom of this, I used the suspects in three recipes. First up, from The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook, was Sweet Potato Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing. Despite its descriptions as “a favorite with all ages,” my children wouldn’t touch it. Our guest, Petr, however, claimed he would become vegetarian if he could cook food this tasty and imaginative all the time. The following night, presented with incredibly delicious and nutritious Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas from the same cookbook, both kids begged, “More!” Finally, yam fries were enjoyed by adults, tolerated by the 3- to 6-year-olds in my sample, and gobbled by my 20-month-old, who didn’t even blink at the unusual cinnamon-cayenne flavor. Each of these sweet potato recipes felt like an encounter with a long-lost friend, leaving me wondering why I don’t get together with them more often.
Sweet Potato Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing (adapted from The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook)
5 medium sweet potatoes, cooked (boiled or baked), peeled and diced
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. minced cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts
Peanut Butter Dressing
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 tsp. brown rice vinegar
1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice
1 tsp. soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
Place all ingredients except dressing in large bowl. Place dressing ingredients in blender and purée until smooth. Pour over salad. Toss gently to coat.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas (adapted from The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook)
2 tsp. oil
1 small onion, diced
2 sweet potatoes, diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 cups cooked black beans with a little cooking water
2 cups chopped greens (kale, spinach, etc.)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups enchilada sauce (mild green or red, fresh or canned)
8 large whole grain flour tortillas or 10-12 corn tortillas
8 oz. sour cream, yogurt or yogurt cheese
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion and sauté 5 To 10 minutes or until soft. Add sweet potatoes. Cover and cook about 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in beans and greens. Cover and heat about 5 minutes until greens are wilted. Add a little water if necessary to prevent scorching. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Cover bottom of 9x13-inch baking dish with about 1/3 cup enchilada sauce. Place tortilla on flat surface. Scoop a line of filling across the width of the tortilla about 2 inches from the bottom. Spoon sour cream, yogurt or yogurt cheese across filling. Roll enchilada up and place in pan, seam side down. Repeat until all filling has been used. Cover enchiladas with remaining sauce. Cover pan and bake 20 minutes.
Sweet ’N’ Spicy Oven Yam Fries (adapted from www.veganmania.com)
3 medium-sized “yams” or sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into French fries
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. sea salt (or less, to taste)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or less, to taste)
Preheat oven to 425ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the “yams.”
Before setting off to buy sweet potatoes, when asked, “Do you want to go to the store?” Judy Sobeloff’s 20-month-old son answered: “Co-op!”
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