Exploring Cassava: Versatility and Benefits

Hi there, how is your day coming along? Mine is going great. In recent times I have realized how I cannot think about certain foods without thinking of specific people a specific event or a place. That is the power food or rather shared meals have. It brings people together. For new experiences, or for tradition think about it there are specific foods you will eat and automatically or subconsciously think of someone specific. Say for instance I can't make pancakes without thinking about Lisa my childhood bestie makes me realize just how much time has passed and sometimes even pushes me to give them a call. Have you experienced this before?

Cassava is the tapered long brown root often found next to sweet potatoes in a grocery store. Many of us are used to the root being in flour form and an addition to your porridge mix flour right? The very rare occasions where you have used the same as a breakfast or snack alternative. Cassava is very versatile in its use at home. Before we delve into how to use it let me give you a rundown of what lies beneath that dark, tough exterior.

Cassava is a root vegetable. It is the underground part of the cassava shrub, which has the Latin name Manihot esculenta. Like potatoes and yams, it is a tuber crop. Cassava roots have a similar shape to sweet potatoes. More than 80 countries throughout the tropics grow cassava, and it is a primary component of the diet of more than 800 million people around the world.

It is a very resilient crop as it is resistant to drought and requires minimal attention in terms of fertilizer. However, it is vulnerable to diseases both bacterial and viral. Cassava is a rich, affordable source of carbohydrates. It can provide more calories per acre of the crop than cereal grain crops, which makes it a very useful crop in developing nations.

The health benefits of cassava consumption are numerous and that goes for not just the root even the leaves.

Cassava is quite rich in carbohydrates but is also a good source of vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin.

Cassava leaf extract can repair damaged kidneys

The fibre content in the cassava is not just beneficial to shed deposited fat in the body, but it is also a great exfoliator and can brighten skin complexion.

Since it is rich in fibre it can play a significant role in weight loss and maintaining healthy bowel motion.

Cassava can also increase hair growth.

Some recipes you would like to try using cassava include:

Bread, which can contain cassava flour only or both cassava and wheat flour

French fries (these were a childhood favourite)

Cassava chips

Cassava cake

Cassava cookies

Cassava in coconut sauce

Additional uses of cassava include

making medications

manufacturing fabrics, paper, and building materials, such as plywood

Now that you have been patient it's storytime!

Back in my campus days, I lived with a roommate who before that fateful day had never eaten cassava before. So what we wanted to have was sweet potatoes for dinner accompanied by this groundnut sauce that is quite famous in Uganda. So as we wound up our daily activities I asked my roommate to go purchase the sweet potatoes from the market it was around 7 p.m. so it was getting dark outside.

She went and faithfully made a purchase and even came back home and peeled them and put them in a pot to boil, all this time I didn't question or even look at what was in her shopping basket. So as the sweet potatoes boiled(what I believed to be at least) I had already made the groundnut sauce so we were preparing our appetite for the delicious supper we were going to have. Upon cooking, I check out the pot. Loh and behold! I find white tubers looking back my question was where did you buy these potatoes because they are taking quite long to cook. I inserted a fork inside to try to break a piece to taste and to my utter shock. My roommate had purchased cassavas instead of sweet potatoes and that is how we ended up having cassava and tea for dinner instead of sweet potatoes. I have made fun of her for quite a while but it's a memory that sticks for a lifetime.

I can barely think about cassava without thinking of her and hence I even got curious to know the various ways cassava can be prepared so that if something similar was to happen. I would have many alternative food choices.

Here is one of my favourites courtesy of Maalum foods Chocolate Chipped Cassava cookies made from Maalum cassava flour.

Learn more about Cassava

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