Day Eight

Cassava

Tonight we had cassava, a widely grown crop in the tropics for starch.  Drake came over and we grated some root using our Cuisinart food processor grating blade.  In just a few short minutes we had a bowl of grated cassava.  Drake then fried it using some gee, and it comes out just like hash brown potatoes.  We had this with a pesto Jennifer made from our basil plants, and a fresh green salad with tomatoes and avocado.

I'll talk more about taro tomorrow but I ate the Mauna Kea Kea variety today for lunch and it was just ono!

Meanwhile, I'm cut and pasting from wikipedia some info on cassava:

Cassava is grown for its enlarged starch-filled roots, which contains nearly the maximum theoretical concentration of starch on a dry weight basis among food crops. Fresh roots contain about 30% starch and very little protein. Roots are prepared much like potato. They can be peeled and boiled, baked, or fried. It is not recommended to eat cassava uncooked, because of potentially toxic concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides that are reduced to innocuous levels through cooking. In traditional settings of the Americas, roots are grated and the sap is extracted through squeezing or pressing. The cassava is then further dried over a fire to make a meal or fermented and cooked. The meal can then be rehydrated with water or added to soups or stews. In Africa, roots are processed in several different ways. They may be first fermented in water. Then they are either sun-dried for storage or grated and made into a dough that is cooked. Alcoholic beverages can be made from the roots.

Young tender leaves can be used as a potherb, containing high levels of protein (8-10% F.W.). Prepared in a similar manner as spinach, care should be taken to eliminate toxic compounds during the cooking process.