Baked Yams

Baking in the ashes of a fire is one of the culinary techniques that anthropologist William Bascom says was a part of Yoruba practice and it can, by extension, be thought to have been widely done throughout the African continent. It is certainly a technique that would have been used in the historical the verb “to eat” is nyam, as in “food for to nyam.” It is not inconceivable then, given the cultural importance of the true yam, that early enslaved Africans gave the tuber that they had the name of the tuber that they knew, and began to call sweet potatoes “yams.” kitchens where Leni cooked.

Although in times past the so-called yams would have been roasted in the embers of a fireplace until very soft and caramelized, these, done in the oven, are almost as good, albeit without the slightly smoky undertone of the fire-roasted ones. The word “yam” is a worthy subject for a short dissertation as well. Suffice it to say here that these “yams” are not yams at all, but rather sweet potatoes. In brief, true yams are the edible tubers of perennial herbaceous vines of the Dioscoreaceae genus. They have a rough, dark brown skin and a dry flesh that is a bit like a white potato in texture. They are also usually sold in pieces, as they can grow up to seven feet in length and weigh as much as one hundred pounds. Sweet potatoes, which are what is used in this recipe, are members of the Ipomea genus and are related to morning glories. They have smooth skins and moist flesh that may be orange, white, or purple and are considerably smaller than true yams. They are New World tubers.