To prepare cassava roots for cooking, trim off the tapering ends, then cut into pieces and remove the thick skin with a sharp knife.
Manihot esculenta
Also known as yuca, manioc, tapioca
Cassava is a tropical woody shrub, widely grown in South America, the West Indies, the Pacific Islands, and Africa, where its starchy tuberous roots are the third most important source of carbohydrates. The roots are also fermented to make liquor, while the leaves, which are high in protein—unusual for a leafy green—can also be cooked and used like spinach.
To prepare cassava roots for cooking, trim off the tapering ends, then cut into pieces and remove the thick skin with a sharp knife.
Cassava is hardy and easy to grow in frost-free areas and makes a good alternative to potatoes in tropical and subtropical climates, where potatoes don’t grow. In autumn, propagate from woody cuttings of old, mature brown wood around 30 cm (1 ft) long. Lay cuttings horizontally on the soil surface and cover with a thin layer of soil, or half-bury them in the soil. Keep moist. By spring the plants that have shoots can be planted.
Harvesting The plant grows to 1–3 m (3–10 ft) high and develops large lobed leaves at the ends of the branches, which are harvested and cooked as they reach maturity. Tubers are fully formed after 8 to 10 months and are harvested when the plant’s leaves turn yellow and fall. Roots store well and are peeled and cooked like potatoes—boiled, fried, baked—or made into flour.
Cassavas should have smooth, intact skin with no blemishes—if possible, avoid tubers with their ends trimmed off. Cassava is often sold coated in wax to stop it from drying out. Keep in the refrigerator or in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place for up to four days.
The starchy tubers of the cassava plant are a staple food for 500 million of the world’s people, but before being eaten the tubers must be peeled, sliced, and boiled thoroughly. The cooking deactivates a substance called linamarin, which converts to deadly cyanide when ingested. Bitter-tasting varieties of cassava contain the most toxin. Traditional healers have long used cassava leaves and tubers to treat everything from fever to diarrhea to infertility. Cancer researchers are investigating linamarin’s potential in targeted tumor-killing drugs.
A traditional remedy for headaches was a compress of pounded cassava leaves placed on top of the head.
Cassava is important in many Asian and Pacific Islands cuisines. It can be cooked in many ways. The soft-boiled root has a delicate flavor and can replace boiled potatoes in many situations: as an accompaniment for meat dishes or in purees, dumplings, soups, and stews. See our Cassava cake.
All parts of the cassava plant, a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, are poisonous and must be cooked before eating. Choose sweet root cultivars, as they have lower levels of toxins; boil roots for 20 minutes and cook leaves for 15 minutes.
Wood spirit root
In mythology cassava is portrayed as a savior that protects against starvation. According to one traditional story of the Tupi people of Brazil, long ago a woman was devastated as she watched her child starve to death. She buried the child’s body under the floor of her hut. That night she was visited by a wood spirit, known as a mani, who changed the child’s body into the roots of a plant, which subsequently became known as mani oca, meaning “wood spirit root.” This plant became the chief staple food for generations of indigenous people of the Amazon and, in time, of inhabitants of the tropics throughout the world.