Full Answer
What is a Beauregard sweet potato?
'Beauregard' is a cultivar of sweet potato. It was developed at Louisiana State University in 1987 by the late Larry Rolston. When introduced, it saved the failing Louisiana sweet potato market due to its high-yield and disease-resistant qualities.
What are Beauregards good for?
Beauregards have purplish-red skin and a deep orange interior. Their flesh is slightly stringier and more juicy than some other varieties when cooked, so they're good for mashing and incorporating into baked goods and desserts.
What are yams and where do they come from?
Unless you live in a tropical climate, or are cooking dishes that specifically call for them, you probably aren't encountering yams at all. Real yams are native to Asia and Africa, and have scaly brown skin surrounding very starchy white flesh. They’re not nearly as sweet as sweet potatoes and take best to boiling and slow braising.
How did the Beauregard get its name?
Larry Rolston, the creator of the Beauregard, was believed to have studied the Civil War and derived the name from his studies.
Is a Beauregard yam the same as a sweet potato?
The “Yams” Garnet, Jewel, Beauregard: these are the orange fleshed, reddish-brownish-orangish skinned sweet potatoes masquerading as yams. They're even more common than the standard sweet potato, sweeter, and contain a bit more water (you can hear it escape when you bake them).
What is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?
Yams are starchy and have a rough, brown exterior. They can grow up to 45 feet long and are eaten in parts of Latin America, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. Sweet potatoes are a New World root vegetable, have a softer, reddish skin, a creamier interior, and often, a darker interior.Feb 6, 2020
What is the sweetest type of sweet potato?
Beauregard Sweet Potatoes They are the sweetest orange sweet potato on this list and are plenty juicy, making them a great all-purpose sweet potato.Jan 27, 2021
Is a yam just a sweet potato?
That sweet, orange-colored root vegetable that you love so dearly is actually a sweetpotato. 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.
Which is healthier yam or sweet potato?
Sweet potatoes are more nutritious than yams. Sweet potatoes and yams are both healthy foods, and they look similar. Sweet potatoes, however, have higher concentrations of most nutrients and more fiber.Oct 23, 2018
Is Cassava the same as yam?
The main difference between cassava and yam is that cassava possesses a higher percentage of calories than yams. It is true that yams and cassava are tuberous root vegetables. Both cassava and yams grow out of a flowering plant.Dec 27, 2021
What makes sweet potatoes purple?
The purple color is completely natural. It comes as a result of an antioxidant called anthocyanin, the same antioxidant responsible for the color of the color of red cabbage, red wine, and purple cauliflower.Sep 3, 2020
What is the difference between jewel yams and red yams?
I think I've figured it out, though: the garnet yam has a reddish skin and tends to be thicker and rounder—sort of more corpulent—and the jewel has brown (sort of light brown) skin and is longer and skinnier.Aug 13, 2012
Which sweet potato is healthiest?
One such study, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research in June 2013, concluded that purple-fleshed sweet potatoes had the highest overall level of phenolics, antioxidant content and total soluble dietary fiber.Aug 20, 2019
Is Japanese sweet potato a yam?
The Japanese Sweet, which may also be referred to as a Japanese yam, an Oriental, Kotobuki, Satsuma Imo, or Satsumaimo, is a variety of potato that is common in Japan and is now grown in the U.S. as well as many other regions of the world.
Where do yams come from originally?
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. Some of the largest yams have weighed more than 100 pounds and have been several feet long.
Is yam good for diabetics?
Its high fibre content contributes to a glycemic index of 54, significantly lower than that of potatoes having a glycemic index of 80. This makes yam better suited for weight watchers, diabetics and those with heart disease as it does not create sharp increase in insulin response.Dec 12, 2015
Can you tell your jewels from your garnets? A guide to common supermarket sweet potato varieties to know and love
Elazar Sontag is a writer from Oakland, California, living in Brooklyn. He's currently a staff writer at Eater, and he’s the author of Flavors of Oakland: A Cookbook in 20 Stories, a book about home cooks and their food cultures. He's a contributor to the Washington Post, New York Magazine, Vice, and more.
What Is a Sweet Potato?
For starters, a sweet potato isn't a potato at all, meaning it's not a member of the Solanum tuberosum potato family from which French fries, mashed potatoes, and latkes are made; their composition of simple sugars and complex starches are quite different.
What's the Difference Between Sweet Potatoes and Yams?
Though many grocers use the terms "yam" and "sweet potato" interchangeably, the two are far from the same. Unless you live in a tropical climate, or are cooking dishes that specifically call for them, you probably aren't encountering yams at all.
Common Varieties
It's not always easy to tell varieties of orange sweet potatoes apart. So to get a little more clarity about the differences between some of the most common orange tubers, I checked in with Keia Mastrianni, a North Carolina–based writer and oral historian.
