Why Did Candied Yams Become a Thanksgiving Tradition?
What To Know
- What Americans call “candied yams” at Thanksgiving are actually sweet potatoes, mislabeled for marketing and regional reasons.
- The tradition of topping sweet potatoes with marshmallows began in the early 20th century, when a marshmallow company promoted recipes featuring the combination.
- Sweet potatoes became a Thanksgiving staple due to their popularity in Southern cuisine and their inclusion in holiday recipes published in the late 19th century.
On Thanksgiving, some dishes feel non-negotiable: turkey may be the centerpiece, but the table doesn’t look right without stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and of course, candied yams. Yams are often covered in marshmallows and have become one of the most nostalgic sides of the holiday season. But have you ever wondered how something this sugary promoted as a vegetable ended up next to savory stuffing and gravy?
What is the history of candied yams?
Americans commonly call it a “yam,” however, in this context, it is almost always a soft variety of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). A true yam (of the genus Dioscorea) is a different tuber native to Africa and Asia. Sweet potatoes, meanwhile, originated in tropical South America more than 5,000 years ago and were introduced into North America by the 1600s. So when you’re eating “yams” on the holiday table, you’re really eating sweet potatoes, just ones given that “yam” label for marketing or regional reasons.
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Now, how did sweet potatoes become candied and tied to Thanksgiving? Recipes for glazed or candied sweet potatoes began appearing in American cookbooks in the late 19th century. For example, the 1896 edition of the Boston Cooking‑School Cookbook by Fannie Farmer includes a recipe for glazed sweet potatoes. Around this time, George Washington Carver also compiled over 100 recipes using the root vegetable. But the more familiar marshmallow-topped version came about a little later. In 1917, the marshmallow manufacturer Angelus Marshmallows asked cook and editor Janet McKenzie Hill to develop recipes using marshmallows; one of those was mashed sweet potatoes baked with a marshmallow topping.
How did candied yams become a Thanksgiving tradition?
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As for how sweet potatoes came to be a Thanksgiving item, the story is less clear. However, writer and magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale published a sweet potato pie recipe in 1887, helping popularize the vegetable as a holiday dish. Also, because sweet potatoes were a strong crop in the southern United States (with a warming season more suited to their growth), they became familiar in holiday meals there and spread from that tradition.
Do you prefer your classic candied yams with marshmallows, or slightly less sweet with pecans instead?
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Home For The Holidays
November 2021
Celebrate the holidays with your favorite classic stars!
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