Africa and Asia
Many people don’t know that there is actually a big difference between sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are roots found mainly in tropical America and are part of the Morning Glory family. Yams are tubers (or bulbs) of a tropical vine found in Central and South America, the West Indies, Africa and Asia. There are two varieties of sweet potato: the pale version has a very thin, yellow skin with a bright yellow flesh. The darker skinned sweet potato has a thicker, orange skin with a sweet, moist flesh.  There are many varieties of sweet potatoes, which come from the morning glory family. Skin color can range from white and yellow to red, purple and brown, while the flesh can be white, yellow, orange or even orange-red. These vegetables have an elongated shape with tapered ends. A Yam Is Probably Not a Yam. Let's clear up one very important point: sweet potatoes are not a type of yam, and yams are not a type of sweet potato. They are both tuberous root vegetables that come from a flowering plant, but they are not related and actually don't even have a lot in common. This is what a true yam looks like Yam is the common name for some plant species in the genus Dioscorea (family Dioscoreaceae) that form edible tubers. These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania. There are many cultivars of yam. Although some varieties of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) are also called yam in parts of the United States and Canada, sweet potato is not part of the family Dioscoreaceae but belongs in the unrelated morning glory family Convolvulaceae. The top producers of yams are (in descending order) Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, and Colombia. Here's a short tutorial on how to prepare Baked Yam and Pineapple: In order to make this recipe, you need to have 5 cups of mashed yams, a cup of pineapple tidbits,1/4 cup of … salt butter, a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 pound of marshmallows and 1/4 cup of pecan halves. you can boil the yam (s).... then you peel your yams. and you mash the yams together and add butter ..... you put in one of those glass pans your 40 mins.-1hour............. a … nd if u want u can make a mixture with melted butter/marshmallows/brown sugar....  Both varieties of sweet potato, including yams can be widely found in supermarket. Yams (family Dioscoreaceae) are native to Africa and Asia and other tropical regions. Yams are starchy tubers that have an almost black bark-like skin and white, purple or reddish flesh and come in many varieties. The tubers can be as small as regular potatoes or grow upwards of five feet long.  Yams are monocots, related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yam tubers vary in size from that of a small potato to over 60 kg (130 lb). There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95 percent of these crops are grown in Africa. There are many cultivars of yam. Although some varieties of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) are also called yam in parts of the United States and Canada, sweet potato is not part of the family Dioscoreaceae but belongs in the unrelated morning glory family Convolvulaceae. Generally, in the United States, orange-flesh sweet potatoes are labeled yams while the pale variety, with light yellow skin and flesh, are labeled sweet potatoes. However, vegetables sold as yams in one market may be sold as sweet potatoes in another. To boil yams, follow instructions for How to Boil Sweet Potatoes. How to Mash Boiled Yams. 1  To mash yams to use in recipes, mash the boiled yams with a potato masher or electric mixer on low speed. 2  Measure the amount you need for the recipe. 3  Note that 2 medium yams yield about 1-1/3 cups peeled, cooked, and mashed yams.
http://cesolano.ucdavis.edu/files/59967.pdf http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-yams-and-sweet-potatoes-word-of-mouth-211176 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_(vegetable) http://www.answers.com/Q/Where_do_yams_come_from http://www.answers.com/Q/What_country_did_yam_come_from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams_n_1097840.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_(vegetable) http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/cooking-basics/how-to-cook-yams/
where do yams come from