Sugar Savvy

Honestly, it won’t bite.

The stuff that children’s worst nightmares are made of, Tapioca has had bad press almost certainly since it was first invented.

My mother refers to it as slime, frog spawn or slimy frog spawn. It is an old fashioned Tom Brown’s School Days-type pudding that seems to send people spiraling back into a yawning nightmarish chasm of overcooked cabbage, watered down ketchup, gray, gristly mince and teachers standing over you whilst you finished every scrap of foul tasting food.

Fortunately for me, whilst I too suffered the indignation of degrading school dinners, I wasn’t exposed to tapioca so it has no horrible connotations for me. Therefore, I was quite excited to prepare tapioca after seeing a delicious looking recipe in the Latin American Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard.

I have always had a rather strange desire to try these tiny, dazzlingly white spheres. I couldn’t possibly imagine what could be so disagreeable about them. What I was interested to discover was that tapioca is not, as I originally thought, a grain. It is in fact reconstituted, processed Cassava Root (and if that fact doesn’t make it seem all the more appetizing, then I don’t know what will!). Tapioca and Cassava are extremely popular in India and Latin America where they is used as a root vegetable, thickener or served as a sweet dessert. In Taiwan, it is served in Bubble Tea, the globes of tapioca offering a startling contrast to the tea.

The recipe in Luard’s book is called Postre de Tapioca con Coco which makes it sound infinitely more romantic and appetizing than Tapioca Pudding. The little pearls are simmered gently, immersed in a creamy bath of canned coconut milk and sugar and then served chilled. I altered the recipe slightly to add a slightly more exotic feel to the dish, by adding a little cinnamon, some freshly grated nutmeg, vanilla sugar and a few drops of coconut extract. I also added cream and milk to the dish and a knob of butter for added enrichment. My final South Sea-esque flourish was Mango Puree.

The Postre de Tapioca con Coco would make a fun dessert to serve at a dinner party; it would be interesting to see the general opinion of Tapioca change rapidly as they taste this heavenly concoction, which is comfortingly creamy but redolently spicy too. The mango puree cuts through the richness perfectly, although you could use fresh mango or any other tropical fruits, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit or even some poached pears, plums or apples to make it a delicious wintry pudding.

Botanists Note: The root of the Cassava Plant is usually cooked up and used instead of potatoes. It is an excellent source of Calcium and Vitamin C, although it can’t be consumed raw as it contains cyanide. Once cooked or processed though, it has a myriad of uses, from treating hypertension and irritable bowel syndrome to being ground into flour. The bitter juice is turned into a thick syrup called Cassareep and the leaves are pounded up and used in meat stews (called, rather fittingly, palavers). But, until we can buy Cassava Root in its most natural form readily in the supermarket, we must satisfy ourselves with Tapioca:

POSTRE DE TAPIOCA CON COCO
adapted from Elisabeth Luards Latin American Kitchen
Serves 4

125g Tapioca
1 Can Coconut Milk
Milk and Cream to bring the total volume of the coconut milk up to 1 1/2 pints
Pinch Cinnamon
Grating of Fresh Nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Sugar (or more to taste), regular sugar is OK too
Mango Puree or fruit of your choice.

In a large heavy based saucepan, pour the milk, cream and coconut milk mixture, the tapioca and the sugar. Mix well.

Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

Gently simmer over a very low heat for about an hour or until the tapioca is soft to the tongue but still retains its shape.

Taste and add more sugar if required.

The original recipe suggests leaving this to chill but I preferred it warm. Serve in glasses or bowls with mango puree or the fruit of your choice.

Enjoy and forget all your childhood nightmares….