Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same if the sweet potatoes disappeared from our Southern tables. Some of us like them candied, some with marshmallows melted on top, some mashed with brown sugar and butter, some with just butter, some in a pie. However they come to the table, though, they bring the smell and flavor of fall. On occasion, they also generate lively table discussions as to what, exactly, is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam? Most Southern cooks will say that the yam is a darker orange and a “tad” sweeter than the sweet potato but both just as good in their recipes – “just use what’s to hand”!
To help with this year’s possible discussions, here is a little of what the experts say. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes are not related even though the light yellow skinned sweet potato has a dry, crumbly texture similar to the white potato. Most commonly called yams are the “sweet potatoes” that are darker orange to reddish with thicker skins and a sweet, moist, orangy flesh. Sweet potatoes and yams are long with ends tapering to a point as opposed to the white potato’s rounded ends. The experts say that yams are the tubers of a tropical vine. The word, yam, is of African origin and was first recorded in American in 1676.
Within the Jackson Purchase, two communities celebrate the sweet potato’s popularity yearly. In Kentucky, Benton in Marshall County holds its annual Tater Day Festival the first Monday in April. Begun in 1843, the town’s population would come together to celebrate spring and trade in sweet potato slips (used to grown the crop.) Benton’s Tater Day is said to be the oldest continuous trade day in the U.S. There is always a parade, games, carnival rides and a “flea” market.
In Gleason, (Weakley County) Tennessee, the sweet potato became the town’s number one agricultural export early in the 20th century and gained for it the nickname of Tatertown. On Labor Day weekend every year a “Tater Town Special” is held to celebrate the economic contribution of this crop. The celebration is a community homecoming affair with a parade, good food, high school reunions, family reunions and on Sunday a community-wide church service.
Well, knowing all this won’t make the “taters” taste any sweeter, but maybe it will make the table talk interesting and different! Happy Thanksgiving!
(Information for this posting found on the Internet at www.gleasononline.com/tater_town_online.htm; en.wikipedia; www.utm.edu; www.homecooking.about.com)