Cassava, also known as yucca, is a nutty flavored, starch-tuber. It thought to have originated from the South-American forests. Its sweet, chewy underground tuber is one of the popular edible root-vegetables. Indigenous people of many parts of Africa, Asia and South American continents used it as staple food source since centuries. Together with other tropical roots and starch-rich foods like yam, taro, plantains, potato, etc, it too is an indispensable part of carbohydrate diet for millions of people living in these regions.
Preparation
VERY IMPORTANT: If not properly prepared cassava can be toxic due to high levels of cyanide!
1. The first step in preparing cassava for cooking is to cut the tapered ends off of the root, and then cut the root into segments, which are four to six inches long.
2. Next, you’ll need to remove the skin. Since vegetable peelers don’t generally work well with the thick skin of the cassava, you’ll need to stand the individual pieces on one cut end and slice the peel away with a sharp blade, rotating the piece as you shear off the skin until only the white flesh remains.
3. Given the meaty density of cassava, further cutting down of the root will be required to ensure even and thorough cooking. Keeping the peeled sections up on one end, cut each piece in half lengthwise, and then cut these halves in half lengthwise a second time. Each four to six-inch section should now be cut into four quarters.
4. These quartered segments should possess an exposed woody core at their inner corners, which will need to be removed and disposed of. To do this, carefully cut the inner corner of each quarter off with a sharp knife and throw it away. Your cassava segments are now ready to be boiled, fried, roasted or sautéed.
Farms that grow Cassava
- Waianu Farm
Recipes
