14 BULLETIN 1167, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
salted boiling water, boil gently (to prevent sticking to bottom of 
vessel) until tender, and drain. Yams usually cook more quickly 
than potatoes, and they sometimes go to pieces if boiled too long. 
The boiled yam may be served plain or with butter and other season- 
ing added. It may also be further prepared according to one of the 
following recipes or by other desired methods. 
MASHED YAM. 
Mashed yam is prepared like mashed potato. Starting with the 
yam boiled in accordance with the directions in the preceding recipe, 
mash, season with butter, and beat until light (PL X, Fig. 2). It is 
important to keep the yam hot while mashing; if it is too dry for 
beating add milk (preferably warm) as required. Mashed yam 
usually becomes very firm upon standing for even a few minutes 
and therefore should be served promptly. Properly prepared and 
served promptly, this is perhaps the most generally satisfactory of all 
vam dishes. 
YAM SALAD. 
The salad is prepared from the boiled yam while still warm, in 
the same manner as potato salad. Some yams are better suited than 
others to this use, but practically all of the white-fleshed ones are 
satisfactory. 
FRIED YAM. 
(1) Warm or cold boiled yam may be used very satisfactorily for 
frying. If somewhat dry it is best to cut the yam into slices about 
an inch thick and fry (saute) quickly in a covered frying pan. 
With moister yams the thick slices and the covering of the frying 
pan are not so necessary. 
(2) Yam cakes molded from mashed yam and fried are very good. 
(3) Cakes molded from warm mashed yam without the addition 
of any milk but seasoned with butter are especially pleasing when 
fried. The hands should be moistened with water while the cakes 
are being molded, and if the yam is still too dry to handle a very 
little of the water used in boiling may be returned to it. It is de- 
sirable, however, not to have the cakes more moist than is necessary 
for molding them. Containing no milk, they often can be kept for a 
day or two without detriment before frying. 
(4) Kaw yam may be sliced about half an inch thick, dipped in 
bread crumbs, flour, or egg, and fried. 
(5) French-fried yam is also excellent. With the drier yams, 
however, care should be taken not to fry them longer than actually 
necessary. 
YAMS ROASTED WITH MEAT. 
Yams cooked in this way are especially delicious. They are pared, 
cut into pieces of suitable size, and placed like potatoes in the pan 
with the meat, either at the beginning or later, depending upon the 
relative size of the roast and the pieces of yam. 
SUMMARY. 
The true yams belong to a large genus — Dioscorea — of tuber-bear- 
ing plants, many species of which are edible and a few of great 
economic importance to millions of people. The true yams are en- 
tirely distinct from the sweet potato, to certain moist varieties of 
