Rosalee Brown

Cassava is not a strange food to most Jamaicans. Many young people might only be familiar with bammy and of course, escoveitch fish from their usual food stops on Jamaica's roadside.

Cassava is a staple food for many countries of the world and is said to be the third largest source of carbohydrate worldwide. Africa is the largest producer of cassava, although that is not where we learned about it, as cassava has been around from the time of the Tainos.

Its uses are many; some of us old enough remember starch made from cassava for use in preparing cotton garments for ironing. It was also used as powder for chafing on babies, for diaper rash and in other folds around the neck and arms of those plump babies. Remember tying the starch in cotton, pulverising it and then using the filled sack to dust the area?

Bittersweet food

Cassava can be divided into the bitter and sweet variety. The bitter one has more of the poisonous compounds which can be converted to cyanide. The cassava is grated, soaked, washed and juiced. The juice is then left to settle and the free water discarded and the settled starch used. The grated portion can be formed and baked into bammy.

The sweet variety can be boiled and used as any other staple with your choice of protein. For the city backyard gardeners who are not very experienced with farming cassava, get some advice and do not do as my husband and I, who took about two seasons before being able to 'catch' the perfect time for harvesting it.

Cassava is very easy to plant; the stems (stick) can be separated into several planting stock, but if the tuber is allowed to stay too long in the earth before reaping, it will become very fibrous. When reaped on time, however, it is delicate and makes a very delicious staple.

Nutrient profile

Cassava is a good source of carbohydrate, and therefore provides energy as its major contributor to the diet. It has a small amount of protein and traces of other nutrients in the tuber. The leaves are also a source of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, but the cassava leaves are not a part of the Jamaican diet.

The minister of agriculture is proposing an increased production of cassava to reduce imported staples such as rice. Volume for volume, cassava has more energy, fibre and moisture than rice and can make a very good contribution to a healthy diet.

Cassava must be served with a source of protein such as animal food or legumes in addition to vegetables for a complete meal. When compared to rice and other cereals or even some ground provisions, its protein content is much less.

There are only two popular recipes for cassava in Jamaica - baking as in bammy and boiled, but there are other preparations such as dumplings. Because cassava is easy to cultivate, it is a possible way to increase local staple consumption, but extensive education will be necessary to create a 'buy-in' for increased consumption. I am sure the Rural Agricultural Development Authority has this planned. So for those who have never had cassava (apart from as bammy), give it a try.

A container filled with peeled cassava which, according to Jamaican folklore, should be planted to catch the moon - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

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