Yucca in Seattle
Anyone know where I can get some Yucca/Cassava for grilling? Ironically, the best airline meal I ever had included these and I live in the PNW.
-
I usually find the best selection at hispanic markets. Sometimes they even have bags of frozen cassava. It might be labeled as malanga. If I find it at regular grocery stores it is usually a little too old with soft spots and more expensive. The frozen kind stays firm even if you boil it so if you thaw and grill it, it should be fine.
My husband is from jamaica. We roast slices of cassava and yams in the oven after coating them in oil and shaking them in a bag of jerk seasoning or curry and garlic. They make good home fries too.
-
-
We paid someone to come dig up our yuccas from the yard! They grow very well around here. No, we did not try eating the huge roots.
›4 Replies-
-
-
re: tsquare
Technically correct, but the yucca roots you buy in the grocery stores are a type of jungle yam, like manioc, and don't seem to have any relation to the sword-point bush.
Yucca is from one Indian language, and Agave is from another, and refer to the same plant.
The root you buy in the stores called yucca is a homonym, probably from a third Indian language.
This is one reason it's not a good idea to rely on the name of a product if you're unfamiliar with its origin: while yucca/agave can get you drunk, and I think yucca/yam can feed you, if a product exists called yucca/manioc and you mistake it for one of the others you could get poisoned.-
re: PeteSeattle
We've already had the yuca vs yucca lesson for which I thanked the earlier posters.
While Yucca and Agave belong to the same subfamily, they are separate genus, not just different languages. Not the same plant. I think the tequila makers would be very unhappy with your misunderstanding. They are picky about their product.
Yuca - cassava - was used historically to make an alcoholic beverage before rum became available and still may be used to make a rough beer in some parts of the world. I think I'll pass on that.
-
-
-
-
-
they are not the same things - cassava (the source of poi) comes from a broad-leafed plant (which becomes callalou when stewed) and must be treated to remove lethal acids. yucca is the root of a cactus-like shrub and , like potatoes, steams up wonderfully and makes great fried chips. both cassava and yucca are generally available at uwajimaya and, surely, lots of other ethnic markets.
›4 Replies-
-
re: howard 1st
knowspicker
Jun 11, 2011 07:46 PM
Poi is actually made from Taro. Cassava is yuca/manioc. The yucca in peoples yards in the NW isn't the same thing.
I saw yuca at the Fred Meyer in Lake City this afternoon. I have also seen it at Uwajimaya and HT Market.
-----
Uwajimaya
600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA-
-
re: knowspicker
Saar's Market on Rainier and Henderson has them. Covered in wax. I tried them once, in Dallas. I wasn't sure if it was manioc or not, since i"ve never seen manioc, but to be on the safe side I soaked the root and squeezed it out, then cooked it. Bland. Never did it again. Didn't seem worth the effort.
If you want taro, that's another animal altogether! Elephant ear, giant one. My balcony overlooks a playground where Samoan kids play, and I try growing taro each year so the kids grow up knowing what it looks like. Taro is very hard to grow in Seattle because it won't survive below 50 degrees, and won't grow unless temperatures stay above seventy day and night.
Big taro is lavender with darker violet streaks. (Don't eat taro raw) but boiled taro slices that are then grilled would be fine!
Little taro is white, but leftover little taro is a really unpleasant product. (Smells vaguely like doggie poo)
-
-
