Re: [CH] Yucca Root
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Wed, 19 May 1999 08:09:15 -0700
Apparently there has been some misunderstanding of the message I sent out,
so, just to clarify what I meant by that attempt at humor...
"Yuca" is the Spanish name for a root we normally call cassava in English,
and also tapioca (and in Latin, Manihot esculenta). This root is starchy,
with white flesh and dark skin, and is so similar to a potato, it is used
like a potato. And, like a potato, there are thousands of (unlimited?)
possible culinary uses, but the vast majority of them are eaten after being
boiled or steamed and accompanied by some sort of sauce. So, the simplest
and "most authentic" recipe for preparing yuca would be to peel some, boil
until tender, then serve with, say, black beans and perhaps some chicken
preparation.
Apparently "yucca" is an alternate spelling of the Spanish term "yuca",
which, again, refers to the edible cassava/manioc/tapioca/Manihot esculenta.
"Yucca" is the name we normally use in English for any of several
drought-tolerant tough- and "spiny-" leaved plants native to the
Southwestern USA (in fact, these are all in genus Yucca, so we are really
just using the Latin name in our common English usage). For example,
Yucca aloifolia is "spanish bayonet",
Y. brevifolia is "joshua tree",
Y. filamentosa is "needle palm",
Y. gloriosa is "spanish dagger",
Y. rigida is "blue yucca",
Y. rostrata is "beaked yucca",
Y. rupicola is "twisted-leaf yucca", etc.
Desert plants of this sort are often used as landscape plants in the
Southwestern USA (including California at least as far north as San
Francisco Bay area). "Yuca" cannot be correctly used to refer to any
plants in this genus.
Roots and other parts of these desert plants are not eaten by humans, as
far as I know (except perhaps in times of dire stress). This was the joke
in my message.
--- Brent