Food Talk And Fabulous Finds - Yams, Sweet potatoes, White Sweet Potatoes???

Does anyone know if there is a difference (calorie / nutrition wise) between yams, sweet potatoes, or white sweet potatoes? My store carries all 3 varieties. I usually get the yams because they are the cheapest. The sweet potatoes (or red sweet potatoes they sometimes call them) look like the yams, and the white ones have a white skin, but I imagine they are orange on the inside.

Also any difference in flavor? Is one particular kind better suited for making crispy " french fry" type version?

Thanks much

The ones with the orange flesh which we call "yams" are actually a variety of sweet potato. There are two main types of sweet potatoes, the orange kind and the ones with lighter yellow flesh. True yams are a totally different species, mostly found in Asia and South America. Confusing, isn't it? Here is some info: http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/aa112497.htm

1 cup of cubes (176g) of sweet potatoes (yellow or orange flesh) have 176 calories. 1 cup of cubes (136g) of yams (South American kind) have 158 calories.

I like to make oven fries by cutting up sweet potatoes (orange flesh) into "fries" (including the skin which is very nutritious). Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 350 deg. for about 1/2 hour or until done.

I enjoy sweet potatoes (I get the orange kind) baked with a little bit of light sour cream. I've actually come to prefer sweet potatoes over white potatoes in most things, like the corn chowder I make.

I did a bit of research a while ago, I recall sweet potatoes to be better than white for nutritional value.

I believe sweet potatoes and yams are suppose to be healthier and lower in fat. And they taste better too. I like mine baked then Ill add a little bit of butter :( sprinkle some cinnamon and I have my sweet dessert.

Can I throw something else into the mix? Kumara. I found them in an aussie recipe book, looked them up on the internet and thought they were sweet potatoes... then I went to a new supermarket and they stocked both "normal" sweet potatoes and kumara, so I wasn't sure what the difference was! They were right next to each other so I guess they're a kind of sweet potato, I'm just not sure what kind :dizzy:

Now to confuse you more...

I read somewhere that yams and sweet potatoes, although look and taste similar, are quite different, even from a different family! Yams are supposed to have higher nutritional value than sweet potatoes. For that reason, I choose yams when given the choice.