Yams were independently domesticated on three different continents: Africa (Dioscorea rotundata), Asia (Dioscorea alata), and the Americas (Dioscorea trifida).
Production.
| Country | Production (millions of tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | 50.1 |
| Ghana | 8.5 |
| Ivory Coast | 7.7 |
| Benin | 3.2 |
What country are yams?
Yams originated in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Africans call yams “nyami,” which is where we get the word “yam.” They are cylindrical and vary in size.
What do they call yams in America?
Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.
What do we call yams in UK?
The American yam is not commonly found in the UK, yet the term is often used in the US to refer to what the British call a sweet potato; the Brits eat theirs roasted (as they do most things) and have not yet warmed to the American dish of “marshmallow yams.”
Why are they called yams?
It seems that American slaves referred to the soft orange-fleshed sweet potatoes as “yams” because of their similarity to the true yams they knew from Africa. Growers began using this name to distinguish them from the firm white-fleshed varieties of sweet potatoes, and the name stuck.
Does USA have yam?
Yams are imported into the USA and Canada from the Caribbean or Latin America. Sweet potatoes are root vegetables that are native to the USA. They have delicate skin and a sweet tasting moist texture. Depending on the variety, sweet potato flesh can vary from white to orange and even purple.
Are there yams in Africa?
The African yam is rich and highly nutritional. It is a cash crop that is available in some areas of Africa all year-round. unlike some other crops that are seasonal. Depending on location, it is also popularly referred to as Ghana yam, Nigerian yam, African yam, true yam, white yam, or puna yam.
What does the slang word yams mean?
slang She has large buttocks. A: “This friend you’re trying to set me up with, she got yams?” B: “Oh yeah.” A: “Nice, that’s just my type.” See also: she, yam. Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
Do Americans call yams sweet potatoes?
Americans have been calling the orange-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes “yams” since colonial times when Africans saw familiarities in them to the tuberous variety. The USDA decided to label them as “yams” to differentiate the two varieties.
Is a yam a sweet potato UK?
Yes, all so-called “yams” are in fact sweetpotatoes. Most people think that long, red-skinned sweetpotatoes are yams, but they really are just one of many varieties of sweetpotatoes.
Why are Birmingham people called yam yams?
Natives of Birmingham (Brummies) meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as “Yam Yams”, a reference to the use of “yow am” instead of “you are”.
What do British call cucumbers?
an English cucumber is just the kind you’d buy normally in a British supermarket as ‘a cucumber‘. They differ from the ones usually sold in the US, which are shorter, thicker- and smoother-skinned, and have bigger seeds.
What is yam yam Birmingham?
people from the Black Country
Yam yam is a disparaging term that people from Birmingham commonly use to describe people from the Black Country. Verdict: Brummie. Unlike many of the other words on the list, people from the Black Country have never claimed ownership of this one.
What does yams mean in rap?
That site lists a number of alternate, street-level definitions for “yams,” including the hips and thighs of a voluptuous woman (Clinton does have a well-documented weakness for those) and the orange-colored balloons wrapped around small amounts of cocaine and heroin, a common use of the term in hip-hop. (
What do yams look like?
Yams have a cylindrical shape with blackish or brown, bark-like skin and white, purple, or reddish flesh. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. They’re carried in more grocery stores these days, but your best chance of finding them is to look in international and specialty markets.
Can you buy yams in Canada?
In most Canadian grocery stores the short answer is yes.
Where are yams popular?
Where do yams and sweet potatoes grow? Sweet potatoes are grown in states such as North Carolina and California, but yams are mostly grown commercially in Africa and are typically only found in specialty stores in the U.S.
What is a Jamaican sweet potato?
The Jamaican sweet potato is white flesh with red skin. The American sweet potato is orange flesh with reddish/brown/rose skin. The American sweet potato is softer once cooked.
What do yams taste like?
What Do Yams Taste Like? Compared to sweet potatoes, yams have an earthy, neutral taste. They can be mildly sweet but mostly take on the flavor of the seasonings used in the dish. Yams must be cooked before eating because they are toxic when eaten raw.
What is Nigerian yam?
Yam is in the class of roots and tubers that is a staple of the Nigerian and West African diet, which provides some 200 calories of energy per capital daily. In Nigeria, in many yam-producing areas, it is said that “yam is food and food is yam”.
Who brought yam to Nigeria?
Yam farming antedates the historic period on the West Coast of Africa with early Iberian explorer, Pacheco Pereira, who in 1505 mentioned the existence of established trade between Bonny in the east Niger delta and yam growing areas in the hinterland at the time of his visits to Nigeria [10].
Elvira Bowen is a food expert who has dedicated her life to understanding the science of cooking. She has worked in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens, and has published several cookbooks that have become bestsellers. Elvira is known for her creative approach to cuisine, and her passion for teaching others about the culinary arts.