Are yams and sweet potatoes the same thing?!
Answers: Generally speaking, in this country, they mean the same thing, though yam is actually a misnomer. Check the info given above from Alton Brown.
yes
No not really. Alton Brown explained it on "Good Eats" on the Food channel last week. Pull this up on your computer under the Food channel.
no, they aren't. Sweet potatoes are more like white potatoes, and Yams are sweeter and softer than Sweet potatoes. For more info go to About.com
In U.S. supermarkets, yes they are the same thing.
Botanically, yams and sweet potatoes are different, but most of the stuff sold in the market are sweet potatoes. Some producers call them yams just to be different - marketing.
In the US sweet potatoes are labeled as yams often. Actually a yam is a 9 month crop with only one per plant. It is colored white to light yellow and looks nothing like a sweet potato. It seems to be grown in the tropics more than anywhere else.
yep, different names in different areas where you live