Cassava

The cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta; also yuca in Spanish, mandioca, aipim, or macaxeira in Portuguese, and mandio in Guaraní) is a woody perennial shrub of the spurge family, that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. It was originally observed in what are now called Brazil and Paraguay, and today is widely diffused in tropical and subtropical regions, and may be called the "potato of the tropics". All known species and varieties are cultigens.

Uses

The root is usually cooked into a great variety of dishes. If eaten raw, the root is poisonous and can be fatal, because the digestive process produces cyanide within the body. The soft-boiled root has a delicate flavor and can replace boiled potatoes in many uses: as an accompaniment for meat dishes, or deep-fried, made into purées, dumplings and gnocchi, soups, stews, gravies, etc. Cassava flour can also replace wheat flour, and is so-used by some people with allergies to other grain crops. Tapioca and foufou are made from the starchy flour from cassava root.

Related Topics:
Purée - Dumpling - Gnocchi - Soup - Wheat - Allergies - Tapioca - Foufou

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In West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, cassava is commonly prepared as Eba or Gari. The cassava is grated and fried then mixed with boiling water to form a thick paste.

Related Topics:
West Africa - Nigeria

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Cassava is heavily featured in the cuisine of Brazil. The dish vaca atolada ("mud-stranded cow") is a meat and cassava stew, cooked until the root has turned into a paste; and pirão is a thick gravy-like gruel prepared by cooking fish bits (such as heads and bones) with cassava flour. In the guise of farofa (lightly roasted flour), cassava combines with rice and beans to make the basic meal of lower class Brazilians. Farofa is also a standard side dish for feijoada, the famous meat-and-beans stew. Boiled cassava is also made into a popular sweet pudding. Deep-fried mandioca is a popular snack.

Related Topics:
Cuisine of Brazil - Farofa - Flour - Feijoada - Pudding

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Cassava was, and still is, a major staple food for many native tribes of tropical South America, since pre-Colombian times. It was grated into flour and made into pancakes; bitter varieties were detoxified by washing the flour. Fermentation of cassava gruel produced cauim, a mild alcoholic beverage consumed in vast quantities by natives at parties and ceremonies.

Related Topics:
Cauim - Alcoholic beverage

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Cassava is used as animal feed in Latin America and the Caribbean, China, Nigeria and the EU.

Related Topics:
China - Nigeria - EU

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