Cassava/manioc/yucca

One of the traditional indigenous staple root vegetables of the Caribbean there are both bitter and sweet cassavas. It is made into a number of different products, including flour or meal, bread, ‘cassereep’ and tapioca, bitter cassava is used to produce ‘bammies’ - cakes generally eaten with fried fish. For exportation, cassava is coated in a wax-like substance which has to be peeled away with the skin. With sweet cassava, the root should then be split in half lengthways and the fibrous central stem should be removed before cooking.