Yuca, Cassava

Manioc, Tapioca, Mandioca

Like oatmeal, nopales (cactus pads), okra, cornmeal mush, even gumdrops, tapioca is unbearable to some poor souls. If you are one of them, chances are good that the tacky, waxy, tasty blandness of cassava (the source of that thickener we call tapioca) will not make you happy. Dense, softly fibrous, so starchy it becomes almost translucent when cooked, it is certainly sticky—and to some that means no good. But it has a sweetness, butteriness, and a glutinous chewiness that is much appreciated by about half the world—so you might at least sample it for the sake of worldliness.