Arracacha ✦

Arracacha

What it is

It belongs to the carrot and celery family and was domesticated in the northern Andes; Brazil, where it is called mandioquinha-salsa, now grows more of it than anywhere else. Its roots begin to break down within days of lifting, which is why a vegetable that feeds millions of Colombians has almost no export trade.

In the kitchen

It cooks in half the time of potato and passes the point of no return quickly: twelve to fifteen minutes at a simmer and it is already purée. Mash it with butter and nothing else — it thickens a soup on its own and needs neither cream nor flour.

Goes with

Butter Cream Beef Cilantro / Coriander Corn Nutmeg

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