I have to admit- the first time I ate candied yams was not that long ago. Growing up, we ate yams, but it was not the kind of yams that are featured in the menu of southern food restaurants. My mother either fried (delish!) or boiled white yams on the stove and they were served with spicy tomato and pepper based stew.

As I’ve learned, the yams used for candied yams are actually “sweet potatoes,” the type of potatoes used to make sweet potatoes fries. These sweet potatoes are readily available in just about every grocery store I’ve been to, unlike the type of yams I ate growing up. The sweet potatoes are much smaller than yams, but tend to be bigger than regular potatoes.

Sweet Potato

Continue reading →