Cassava

Manioc

What it is

The bitter varieties carry cyanogenic glycosides right through the flesh, and Amazonian peoples answered with the tipiti, a woven tube press that squeezes the poison out as juice. That juice is not thrown away: boiled hard for hours it becomes tucupi, a golden cooking broth, so the same root supplies both the danger and the seasoning.

In the kitchen

Peel deep, since the toxin sits mostly in the thick pink underskin, split the root and pull out the woody central cord, then boil hard in plenty of water until it splits and turns translucent. Never microwave it and never cook it gently: a genuine rolling boil drives the cyanide off, warmth does not.

Goes with

Coconut milk Lime Chili pepper Garlic Peanut Pork

Same species

Tapioca maltodextrin Tapioca starch

Also used with

Baru nut

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