First, neither one is a "potato"....sweet potatoes are from the Morning Glory family while yams are from the grasses and palms family (hence the rough, dark, bark-like skin). A yam has a darker skin that is rough and almost hairy and is almost cylindrical in shape. A sweet potato has tapered ends with a lighter more delicate skin and either one can have different colored flesh.
Taste:
Yams are starchy, dry, take longer to cook and need more butter (milk, cream, etc.) to make them more palatable.
Sweet potatoes on the other hand are, well....just sweeter, naturally softer, much moister and easier to prepare.
In the end, yams and sweet potato are interchangeable labels thanks to a marketing campaign in the 1930's. It also doesn't help that the FDA has no standard of identity for either one and in supermarkets you will see yam and sweet potato labels interchanged.
Hope this helps.
First, neither one is a "potato"....sweet potatoes are from the Morning Glory family while yams are from the grasses and palms family (hence the rough, dark, bark-like skin). A yam has a darker skin that is rough and almost hairy and is almost cylindrical in shape. A sweet potato has tapered ends with a lighter more delicate skin and either one can have different colored flesh.
Taste:
Yams are starchy, dry, take longer to cook and need more butter (milk, cream, etc.) to make them more palatable.
Sweet potatoes on the other hand are, well....just sweeter, naturally softer, much moister and easier to prepare.
In the end, yams and sweet potato are interchangeable labels thanks to a marketing campaign in the 1930's. It also doesn't help that the FDA has no standard of identity for either one and in supermarkets you will see yam and sweet potato labels interchanged.
Hope this helps.