It seems every single day I see a post or article where someone swears off another vegetable or fruit because it could be bad for them! I have learned by experience to research any food I buy that is new to me. I have concluded that ANY FOOD in excess could have ill effects. Think of some foods as vitamins! Some vitamins like ‘A’ are extremely toxic in excess.
That is the paradox actually. Greens and cruciferous vegetables, for example, are some of the healthiest foods you can eat but too much can result in stones.
I wrote an article about nightshades when I encountered some eggplant that made me sick. Any nightshade that is raw, green or overripe can make you very sick! Did I swear off nightshades? No, I just learned to be a little pickier about them and prepare them correctly.
I wrote about Taro root when I burned my hands washing the leaves! Although I handled them before without incident, I had a large amount and was over exposed to the toxins.
Taro? I haven’t used since but I see a need for another article! I just watched an episode of Diner’s, Drive-in’s and Dive’s where they were wrapping fish in taro leaves to steam them. They donned gloves but didn’t explain why! Considering I almost made all of my neighbors sick from taro, I think the people we learn from should be a little more informative! Although Taro is a staple in some places, it does not negate that it is highly toxic plant!
This time I want to talk about Yucca!
I first tasted yucca at a Caribbean restaurant in Texas. The restaurant did not go over well and left Texas but not before I tried their fried yucca cubes!
LOVED them!
So I bought this HUGE yucca and decided to make air fries. I heard something about not eating them raw so I researched it before preparing.
First thing I learned? Yucca or Yuca should never be eaten raw! It may have varying degrees of natural cyanide which cook off. (Apples, almonds, stone fruits and potatoes contain low levels of cyanide too, so just make sure you wash your hands after handling and cook it well).
I imagine the levels of cyanide vary depending on the origin.
Here are some more notes about preparing yucca.
1. This is as hard to peel as it looks! Similar to pineapple because it has little spores that go deeper into the flesh.
2. It is hard, yet brittle – like a large sweet potato!
3. It is very starchy, like sweet potato, and leaves sticky sugar on your hands.
4. Yucca is also known as cassava or tapioca.
5. You can buy Cassava and tapioca flour and tapioca pearls. The flours can be used as a thickener.
6. You can make a delicious pudding or custard from tapioca flour.
7. Tapioca flour makes delicious popovers!
Preparing is a little tricky! My husband, Harry, hacked a half of the yucca into pieces before I saw how we was doing. Wrong knife! We needed a 10” chef’s knife!
I easily cut the other half into more uniform “fries”.
After seeing the consistency, I decided to simmer these in water for about five minutes before baking them. They were just starting to get fork tender when I pulled them.
I SHOULD have put these in a bag with salt, pepper and paprika and shook them while they were damp. A little corn starch in the bag would have added a layer of texture as well but I didn’t do this.
I arranged them on a pan with a rack and seasoned them with salt and pepper.
I baked them in my convection oven at 350• F for 45 minutes. I turned them once and seasoned them again halfway through.
Since my fries sizes varied so greatly, I had some that were hard and crispy and others that were like the perfect potato fry.
I loved the flavor of these!
