I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?

--
Harlan Messinger
Remove the first dot from my e-mail address.
Veuillez ôter le premier point de mon adresse de courriel.

>I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
>contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.

This business has vexed me, too; and the toxin, I understand, is cyanide.

One source tells me that it's only a problem with the type used in Africa (not
Latin America). Another tells me that the toxin isn't leached out, but
destroyed by heating (which is why West Africans roast their "garri" before
making paste out of it).

Fried yuca, Central American style, is fried directly, without being boiled or
soaked, and it seems to be wholesome. I don't know whether Brazilians roast or
otherwise treat the manioc flour they use as a condiment (on feijoada, for
instance).

I, myself, make a batch of vegetarian curry yesterday with yuca pieces
simmering directly in the stew (like potatoes), without any preliminary
treatment (other than peeling, of course).

I look forward to what others respond here.

Neil

WardNA wrote:

>

SNIP

>
> I, myself, make a batch of vegetarian curry yesterday with yuca pieces
> simmering directly in the stew (like potatoes), without any preliminary
> treatment (other than peeling, of course).
>
> I look forward to what others respond here.
>

My response is: HOW ABOUT THE RECIPE.
blacksalt

Harlan Messinger wrote:
>
> I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
> contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
> Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
> several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
> drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
> of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
> when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
> drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
> non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?

Living here in sunny SoCal, when I think of yuca or yucca, I think
of the spiky leafed desert plant from the lily family that grows
wild in the surrounding hills or in cultivated suburban gardens.
I have trouble associating yuca with the evergreen shrub that grows
the tubers called cassava or manioc.

Here's a recipe I found years ago in a supermarket handout that was
printed in both Spanish and English. It calls for cutting the yuca
in half lengthwise and discarding the fibrous cord that runs down
the middle...sounds more like a stem than a tuber to me. Or, does
the cassava or manioc tubers have a fibrous cord running down the
middle? Is it possible there's more than one kind of culinary yuca
coming from plants that aren't related?

Yuca Puffs (Bolitas de Yuca)

Makes about 16 puffs

1/2 pound yuca, peeled
salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tblsp. fresh lime juice
2 tblsp flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
fresh ground pepper
vegetable oil
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
fresh grated parmesan (or hard Mexican style) cheese

Cut the yuca in half lengthwise. Discard the fibrous cord that
runs down the middle and cut yuca halves into chunks. Bring lightly
salted water to a boil, add yuca and simmer until tender, about
15 to 20 minutes. Drain the yuca and transfer to a food processor.
Add egg and lime juice and process until pureed. Add the flour
and baking powder and pulse to mix. Add the scallion, pepper
and garlic. Pulse to combine. Add a little more flour if necessary
to make a soft dough. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Chill the dough for at least an hour or until firm. Spread the
bread crumbs on a baking sheet. Form the dough into 1 to 1 ½ inch
balls and roll them in the bread crumbs. The mixture will be soft
and sticky, but rolling in the crumbs should allow the forming
of neat balls. Refrigerate on the baking sheet, covered, for
at least 1 hour or until firm. When firm, heat 2 to 3 inches
of vegetable oil in a suitable pan or deep fryer. Working in
small enough batches so as not to cool the oil too much, gently
lower the dough balls into the oil with a slotted spoon. Fry
the balls, turning several times, until they are golden brown
on all sides. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with grated
cheese and serve hot.

Rich McCormack > wrote:

>
>Harlan Messinger wrote:
>>
>> I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
>> contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
>> Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
>> several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
>> drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
>> of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
>> when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
>> drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
>> non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?
>
>Living here in sunny SoCal, when I think of yuca or yucca, I think
>of the spiky leafed desert plant from the lily family that grows
>wild in the surrounding hills or in cultivated suburban gardens.
>I have trouble associating yuca with the evergreen shrub that grows
>the tubers called cassava or manioc.
>
>Here's a recipe I found years ago in a supermarket handout that was
>printed in both Spanish and English. It calls for cutting the yuca
>in half lengthwise and discarding the fibrous cord that runs down
>the middle...sounds more like a stem than a tuber to me. Or, does
>the cassava or manioc tubers have a fibrous cord running down the
>middle?

Yes, they do. In my experience, the restaurants around here that serve
fried yuca don't take the tough cord out, either, which is annoying.
All you need to do is slice the yuca in half lengthwise and dig the
cord out, like digging the core out of a halved apple.

>Is it possible there's more than one kind of culinary yuca
>coming from plants that aren't related?

There's just culinary yuca, and it isn't the same as the member of the
agave family that is known as "yucca". It's extra confusing because
"yucca" is a variant spelling for the tuber--but that's probably a
result of the confusion between the two in the first place. You'll
find it in the produce section of almost any food store that serves a
Latino community. It can also be bought in bags of frozen chunks.

[snipping yuca puff recipe]

Thank you for this. As it happens, I've been trying to duplicate a
dish we had at Ola restaurant in New York, a yuca cake that was cakey
rather than frittery or croquetty in texture. This is the first recipe
I've seen that has baking powder in it, so I'm going to try it.


--
Harlan Messinger
Remove the first dot from my e-mail address.
Veuillez ôter le premier point de mon adresse de courriel.

Harlan Messinger wrote:
>
> I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
> contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
> Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
> several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
> drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
> of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
> when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
> drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
> non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?
>
> --
> Harlan Messinger
> Remove the first dot from my e-mail address.
> Veuillez ôter le premier point de mon adresse de courriel.

Yuca is a staple in the Caribbean. I have never heard of a single case of
poisoning from it. I believe most of the poison compounds are in the skin and
the pink layer just under the skin which are removed before cooking.

It does have some cyanide compounds but so do may other plants. For example,
peach pits contain some amounts of cyanide compounds. So do apricot pits.

http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/faqs/natural/ex3.htm

http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-...ooked-1g.shtml

>I have never heard of a single case of
>poisoning from it.

They occur frequently in Nigeria.

WardNA wrote:
>
> >I have never heard of a single case of
> >poisoning from it.
>
> They occur frequently in Nigeria.

Different yuca. The varieties you may find in the Caribbean and NA do not pose
that problem.

Harlan Messinger > wrote in message >. ..

> I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
> contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
> Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
> several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
> drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
> of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
> when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
> drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
> non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/C...s/cassava.html

Common Names

Yuca
Tapioca
Manioc

Scientific Names

Species: Manihot esculenta Crantz
Syn: M. ultissima Phol
Syn: M. aipi Phol
Family: Euphorbiaceae

Uses

Cassava is grown for its enlarged starch-filled roots, which contains
nearly the maximum theoretical concentration of starch on a dry weight
basis among food crops. Fresh roots contain about 30% starch and very
little protein. Roots are prepared much like potato. They can be
peeled and boiled, baked, or fried. It is not recommended to eat
cassava uncooked, because of potentially toxic concentrations of
cyanogenic glucosides that are reduced to innocuous levels through
cooking. In traditional settings of the Americas, roots are grated and
the sap is extracted through squeezing or pressing. The cassava is
then further dried over a fire to make a meal or fermented and cooked.
The meal can then be rehydrated with water or added to soups or stews.
In Africa, roots are processed in several different ways. They may be
first fermented in water. Then they are either sun-dried for storage
or grated and made into a dough that is cooked. Alcoholic beverages
can be made from the roots. Young tender leaves can be used as a
potherb, containing high levels of protein (8-10% F.W.). Prepared in a
similar manner as spinach, care should be taken to eliminate toxic
compounds during the cooking process. One clone with variegated leaves
is planted as an ornamental.

Toxicities

Cassava is famous for the presence of free and bound cyanogenic
glucosides, linamarin and lotaustralin. They are converted to HCN in
the presence of linamarase, a naturally occurring enzyme in cassava.
Linamarase acts on the glucosides when the cells are ruptured. All
plant parts contain cyanogenic glucosides with the leaves having the
highest concentrations. In the roots, the peel has a higher
concentration than the interior. In the past, cassava was categorized
as either sweet or bitter, signifying the absence or presence of toxic
levels of cyanogenic glucosides. Sweet cultivars can produce as little
as 20 mg of HCN per kg of fresh roots, while bitter ones may produce
more than 50 times as much. The bitterness is identified through taste
and smell. This is not a totally valid system, since sweetness is not
absolutely correlated with HCN producing ability. In cases of human
malnutrition, where the diet lacks protein and iodine, underprocessed
roots of high HCN cultivars may result in serious health
problems.<<<<<

Derek Juhl

"Harlan Messinger" > wrote in message
...
> I'm confused. In the past, I've read that yuca (cassava, manioc)
> contains toxins that need to be removed before the tuber can be eaten.
> Recently I've been testing some yuca-based recipes, and the first
> several I tried involved grating or pulverizing them and letting them
> drain. But other recipes involve no draining at all. I've followed one
> of them, with no ill effects. And then it occurred to me: what about
> when yuca is served in chunks in restaurants? If toxins need to be
> drained, how would they even do that? Maybe the toxins are really a
> non-concern. Can any of you enlighten me?
>
> --
> Harlan Messinger
> Remove the first dot from my e-mail address.
> Veuillez ôter le premier point de mon adresse de courriel

Sure, there are two species of the Yuca. The black Yuca has poisonous roots
and shouldn't be used without a lot of experience. There are some South
American cooks that work with it. Fortunately, you won't find black Yuca in
a U.S. supermarket. There you will find the standard brown Yuca which has
nothing toxic at all about it. It's really easy to buy and use. Just be
sure the Yuca you buy is as hard as a rock and that the interior is pure
white. It has a fairly short shelf life so you need to buy it and use it
fresh.

I generally slice it, peel it and then steam it for about 15 minutes. It is
not chewable if not cooked enough and gets mushy if overcooked. You'll get
the hang of it quickly. I usually serve it with a Cuban style mojo criollo
which is nothing more than a quick sauce made from olive oil, citrus (I mix
orange juice and lime since I can't find the relatively sour Cuban oranges
in my part of the country), garlic and some annatto or cumin and a little
salt. Yuca can substitute for potato in many recipes. I've served Yuca
mashed and I've baked it, grilled it and broiled it. Have some fun and
experiment with this ancient and versatile tuber. Good cooking.

Fred
The Good Gourmet
http://www.thegoodgourmet.com

"Fred" > wrote in message . net>...
>
> I generally slice it, peel it and then steam it for about 15 minutes. It is
> not chewable if not cooked enough and gets mushy if overcooked. You'll get
> the hang of it quickly. I usually serve it with a Cuban style mojo criollo
> which is nothing more than a quick sauce made from olive oil, citrus (I mix
> orange juice and lime since I can't find the relatively sour Cuban oranges
> in my part of the country), garlic and some annatto or cumin and a little
> salt. Yuca can substitute for potato in many recipes. I've served Yuca
> mashed and I've baked it, grilled it and broiled it. Have some fun and
> experiment with this ancient and versatile tuber. Good cooking.

We had a barbecue a couple years ago. A friend's then-girlfriend,
originally from Indonesia, brouhgt chunked yuca that had been cooked
in coconut milk, which we grilled. I asked her or the recipe, and she
said there was none -- it was just an experiment. It sure was good,
though. I tried it myself a while later, but it didnt come out right
-- not enough coconut flavor, and it burnt on the grill. I may give it
another shot next summer.

-bwg

>
> Fred
> The Good Gourmet
> http://www.thegoodgourmet.com