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Writer's pictureJoy Loice Wanga
May 11, 20224 min read

Cassava

Updated: May 31, 2022

Food and memories


Hi there, how is your day coming along? Mine is going great. In recent times I have realized how I cannot think about certain foods without thinking of specific people a specific event or a place. That is the power food or rather shared meals have. It brings people together. For new experiences, or for tradition think about it there are specific foods you will eat and automatically or subconsciously think of someone specific. Say for instance I can't make pancakes without thinking about Lisa my childhood bestie makes me realize just how much time has passed and sometimes even pushes me to give them a call. Have you experienced this before?


Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unspough?



Image by Brett Hondow from Pixabay

Cassava

Cassava is the tapered long brown root often found next to sweet potatoes in a grocery store. Many of us are used to the root being in flour form and an addition to your porridge mix flour right? The very rare occasions where you have used the same as a breakfast or snack alternative. Cassava is very versatile in its use at home. Before we delve into how to use it let me give you a rundown of what lies beneath that dark, tough exterior.


Cassava is a root vegetable. It is the underground part of the cassava shrub, which has the Latin name Manihot esculenta. Like potatoes and yams, it is a tuber crop. Cassava roots have a similar shape to sweet potatoes. More than 80 countries throughout the tropics grow cassava, and it is a primary component of the diet of more than 800 million people around the world.


It is a very resilient crop as it is resistant to drought and requires minimal attention in terms of fertilizer. However, it is vulnerable to diseases both bacterial and viral. Cassava is a rich, affordable source of carbohydrates. It can provide more calories per acre of the crop than cereal grain crops, which makes it a very useful crop in developing nations.

It is essential to peel cassava and never eat it raw. It contains dangerous levels of cyanide unless a person cooks it thoroughly before eating it.

Health benefits.

  • The health benefits of cassava consumption are numerous and that goes for not just the root even the leaves.

  • Cassava is quite rich in carbohydrates but is also a good source of vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin.

  • Cassava leaf extract can repair damaged kidneys

  • The fibre content in the cassava is not just beneficial to shed deposited fat in the body, but it is also a great exfoliator and can brighten skin complexion.

  • Since it is rich in fibre it can play a significant role in weight loss and maintaining healthy bowel motion.

  • Cassava can also increase hair growth.

Some recipes you would like to try using cassava include:

  • Bread, which can contain cassava flour only or both cassava and wheat flour

  • French fries (these were a childhood favourite)

  • Mashed cassava

  • Cassava chips

  • Cassava cake

  • Cassava cookies

  • Cassava in coconut sauce


Image by Kavinda F from Pixabay

Cassava can be consumed in different ways and people in various parts of the world use it for baking or boiled some even ferment it.


Additional uses of cassava include

  • feeding animals

  • making medications

  • manufacturing fabrics, paper, and building materials, such as plywood

  • making bioethanol for the fuel

Now that you have been patient it's storytime!


Back in my campus days, I lived with a roommate who before that fateful day had never eaten cassava before. So what we wanted to have was sweet potatoes for dinner accompanied by this groundnut sauce that is quite famous in Uganda. So as we wound up our daily activities I asked my roommate to go purchase the sweet potatoes from the market it was around 7 p.m. so it was getting dark outside.


She went and faithfully made a purchase and even came back home and peeled them and put them in a pot to boil, all this time I didn't question or even look at what was in her shopping basket. So as the sweet potatoes boiled(what I believed to be at least) I had already made the groundnut sauce so we were preparing our appetite for the delicious supper we were going to have. Upon cooking, I check out the pot. Loh and behold! I find white tubers looking back my question was where did you buy these potatoes because they are taking quite long to cook. I inserted a fork inside to try to break a piece to taste and to my utter shock. My roommate had purchased cassavas instead of sweet potatoes and that is how we ended up having cassava and tea for dinner instead of sweet potatoes. I have made fun of her for quite a while but it's a memory that sticks for a lifetime.


I can barely think about cassava without thinking of her and hence I even got curious to know the various ways cassava can be prepared so that if something similar was to happen. I would have many alternative food choices.


Here is one of my favourites courtesy of Maalum foods Chocolate Chipped Cassava cookies made from Maalum cassava flour.


Learn more about Cassava






Contact Us Today For All Your Flour & Tomato Powder Needs!


Thank you for your interest in our Maalum Foods Products. 😊

We offer various varieties of Flour 🍠 and Tomato Powder 🍅

​Kindly find our Price List Below;


​FLOURS 🍠

  • ​Sweet Potato Flour 500gms - Ksh. 200/=

  • Arrowroot Flour 500gms - Ksh. 250/=

  • Green Banana Flour 500gms - Ksh. 180/=

  • Finger Millet (Wimbi) 500gms - Ksh. 100/=

  • Cassava Flour 500gms - Ksh. 80/=

  • Uji-Mix Flour 600gms - Ksh. 200/=

  • Uji-Mix Flour 300gms - Ksh. 100/=


POWDERS 🍅

  • ​Tomato Powder 200gms - Ksh. 450/=

  • Tomato Powder 100gms - Ksh. 250/=

  • Tomato Powder 50gms - Ksh. 150/=


​Our farm is located in Kiambu, although we do deliveries to the Nairobi CBD for free pickup and its close environs.


If you would, however, need the products delivered to your house and you're out of the Nairobi CBD area, we would charge a small courier fee for the same.


​Kindly send your order through WhatsApp - 0757 916 335 with your exact location details and our Client Service team will assist you accordingly.


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