• Yuca Root – with recipe!

  Filed under cuisine, culture, gluten
  Nov 9

  To make our gluten-free cheese bread (pão de queijo), we use yuca root.  Also spelled yucca (with two c’s), and also know as cassava, manioc, and tapioca, this amazing root vegetable is very versatile.

  

  Thought to have first been cultivated by the Mayans over 1,400 years ago, the yuca shrub and it’s tuber root account for the third largest source of carbohydrates for humans in the world!

  Yuca has one of the highest food energy yields of any cultivated crop, and plays a particularly important role in developing countries because it does well on poor soils and with low rainfall.

  Traditionally in Brazil, yuca starch (polvilho) was made by grating the yuca root and soaking it in water.  After the root was removed, the water was dried in the sun and the starch was scraped from the large wooden bowls (gamela.)

  The starch can then be used to make pão de queijo and other baked items.  The root itself can be cooked, mashed and eaten with a touch of butter and salt, grated and used in sweet cakes, or fried and eaten as a french fry.

  Below is a simple Bolo de Aipim recipe from Elias.  It’s sort of like a coffee cake that is perfect for snacking and sharing.  It’s gluten-free and delicious!

  Ingredients:

  4 xícaras grandes (ou copo de geléia) de açúcar

  3 ovos

  2 c.sobremesa de margarina

  1 l de leite

  1 kg de aipim picado

  200g de côco ralado

  3 cups of sugar

  4 eggs

  1 stick of butter (more to coat the pan) – room temperature

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  1 teaspoon cinnamon

  2 cups of milk

  2 pounds of yuca root*

  1 cup of  grated coconut

  *You can buy yuca root at your local “ethnic” grocery.  Here in Austin, Fiesta has it, as do some HEB grocery stores.  It’s in a dry bin like yams and potatoes, and looks like the photo above.

  Preparation:

  Preheat the oven to 350°.

  Cut the ends of the yuca root off and peel it (like a carrot.)  You’ll see that under the “bark” is a whitish, dry vegetable.  Using a hand-grater, grate the yuca into small pieces (like grated coconut.)

  (If the yuca root is black or mushy, it’s no good. )

  In a bowl, mix sugar and butter.  Add the eggs, one at a time.

  Mix in grated yuca and coconut.

  Add vanilla and cinnamon, then pour in the milk (little by little) until a batter.

  Coat a non-stick pan with butter.

  Add the mixture to the pan and bake for one hour, checking every ten minutes or so thereafter.  When done, it should be golden brown and a fork should come out of the center clean.

  Allow to cool and enjoy!

  We love it with fresh whipped cream and a strong cup of coffee.  This cake lasts great on the counter and can be munched until gone.

  Let us know how yours turned out!

  Photos from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava

  Tagged as: Brazilian, cuisine, culture, gluten, gluten-free
  
  No Comments

Leave a Reply