Cassava

Manihot esculenta

root

Large starchy roots of a shrub from the south-western Amazon, the third source of carbohydrates in the tropics after rice and maize: over 500 million people depend on it. Never raw; cooled after cooking, its starch becomes partly resistant.

Origin

Amazon

Season (United States)

imported · all year round

Preparation

The brown skin and the pink layer beneath are both removed, along with the fibrous cord in the center. It is never eaten raw: soaking and cooking remove its cyanogenic compounds. Most of its goitrogens go with cooking, even a short one.

Molecules

What slows things down Goitrogens

Did you know?

There are sweet and bitter varieties; the bitter ones, rich in cyanogenic compounds, must be carefully detoxified — tapioca and cassava bread are made from them.