yam yam yam

one of my earliest memories is of the smell of roasting yams on a frigid winter day in Korea. you would turn the corner and the sweet, earthy, pungent smell would hit your senses making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. well, that's how i remember feeling at least. that scent still brings back memories of that time period, the neighborhood, the kids that i'd play marbles with on a dirt path, and the sheer joy of having a sweet, steaming hand warmer between my cold little fingers....

it's been snowing on and off all day so i thought i'd revisit that memory by roasting some in our oven. the whole house immediately filled with the smell of sweet goodness.



(these are def. yams... i think?)

on a similar note, i've been trying to figure out the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. apparently, these 2 bulbs are not even related!? the sweet potato, which is part of the morning glory family, usually has a thinner skin with a starchy flesh much like a potato. what we all know in the U.S. as yams are thicker skinned with a orange, moist and sweet flesh. however, these "yams" are a mysnomer and are actually also sweet potatoes. (so i'm still trying to figure out what the HECK a yam is)

the word "yam" is of African origin -- njam, nyami, djambi -- meaning "to eat."

i wonder if any of these have any relation to the word "yum" or "yam yam yam" -- the sounds that Korean children make to refer to eating something particularly yummy... hehe... perhaps. ^^