4 ms·
This article is interesting but somewhat misleading, to the point that I don't know what information to trust. Yes, it does take many steps to turn cassava into
by 4mpm3 7y ago
This article is interesting but somewhat misleading, to the point that I don't know what information to trust. Yes, it does take many steps to turn cassava into a refined flour for baking, but cassava is easily eaten--just peel and boil it, as I do often (it's readily available in many grocery stores in Canada, and a staple of Latin American culture). Cooking is the same basic process used to make many borderline or poisonous foods edible, from bitter almonds to kidney beans. The author appears to conflate some specialized regional cooking techniques with simply making food safe to eat.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y agoYou're presumably eating cyanide-less "sweet" cassava, which is different (and far less toxic) than the "bitter" varieties eaten in Africa and South America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava#Potential_toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava#Potential_toxicity
- lucaslisboa 7y agoThe author appears to conflate some specialized regional cooking techniques with simply making food safe to eat. Agreed. I'm from Brazil and cassava is a pretty common thing to eat. Where I live, especially, it's usually deep fried and we eat it like french fries, for example.
- simlan 7y agoYou are buying and eating the so called sweet variety which is safe to eat after proper cooking. The ones used for making flour is called bitter and way more toxic thus the elaborate process. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
- 4mpm3 7y agoAh, thanks for that. You are of course right, and I didn't realize there was a difference.
- jonplackett 7y agoI wondered about this too, having seen it on sale in the local supermarket. Thought it was strange people weren't mistakenly dropping dead all over the place!
- ncmncm 7y agoPractically all the plant foods we can buy have been very heavily altered from their native form. Even many things we think of as "wild", like berries, were cultivated and bred by vanished populations. The whole Amazon was heavily populated and orcharded before Columbus and his ilk spread measles, yellow fever, smallpox, etc. Pop. estimates range up to 100M. Amazon trees are very different from their wild origins.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]