TAPIOCA FLOUR[MANIHOT ESCULENTA]
Listing description
Tapioca is a starch
extracted from cassava root (Manihot esculenta). This species
is native to the North Region of Brazil, but spread throughout the South
American continent. The plant was carried by Portuguese
and Spanish explorers to most of the West Indies, and
continents of Africa and Asia, including the Philippines and Taiwan. It is now
cultivated worldwide.
Detailed description
A
staple
food in many world regions, tapioca is used as a thickening
agent in various foods.
Etymology and origin
In
Brazil,
cassava is called mandioca or aipim while its starch is called tapioca,
a word derived from the word tipi'óka, its name in the Tupí language spoken by natives when the Portuguese first arrived in
the Northeast Region of Brazil.[1]
This Tupí word refers to the process by which the cassava starch is made
edible.
Production
Tapioca
is one of the purest forms of starch food, and the production varies from
region to region.The cassava plant has either red or green branches with blue spindles on them. The root of the green-branched variant requires treatment to remove linamarin, a cyanogenic glycoside occurring naturally in the plant, which otherwise may be converted into cyanide.[2] Konzo (also called mantakassa) is a paralytic disease associated with several weeks of almost exclusive consumption of insufficiently processed bitter cassava.
In the North and Northeast of Brazil, traditional community based production of tapioca is a by-product of manioc flour production from cassava roots. In this process, the manioc (after treatment to remove toxicity) is ground to a pulp with a small hand- or diesel-powered mill. This masa is then squeezed to dry it out. The wet masa is placed in a long woven tube called a tipiti. The top of the tube is secured while a large branch or lever is inserted into a loop at the bottom and used to stretch the entire implement vertically, squeezing a starch-rich liquid out through the weave and ends. This liquid is collected and the water allowed to evaporate, leaving behind a fine-grained tapioca powder similar in appearance to corn starch.
Commercially, the starch is processed into several forms: hot soluble powder, meal, pre-cooked fine/coarse flakes, rectangular sticks, and spherical "pearls".[3] Pearls are the most widely available shape; sizes range from about 1 mm to 8 mm in diameter, with 2–3 mm being the most common.
Flakes, sticks, and pearls must be soaked well before cooking, in order to rehydrate, absorbing water up to twice their volume. After rehydration, tapioca products become leathery and swollen. Processed tapioca is usually white, but sticks and pearls may be colored. Since old times, the most common color applied to tapioca has been brown, but recently pastel colors have been available. Tapioca pearls are generally opaque when raw, but become translucent when cooked in boiling water.
Brazil in South America, Thailand in Asia, and Nigeria in Africa are the world's largest producers of cassava. Currently, Thailand accounts for about 60% of worldwide exports.[4]
Uses
Nutritional value
Tapioca
predominantly consists of carbohydrates,
with each cup containing 23.9 grams for a total of 105 calories; it is low
in saturated fat, protein
and sodium.[5]
It has no significant essential vitamins or dietary
minerals.[5]
One serving of tapioca pudding contains no dietary
fiber, a small amount of oleic
acid, and no omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids.[5]
Flatbreads
A
casabe is a thin flatbread made from bitter cassava
root without leavening. It was originally produced by
the indigenous Arawak
and Carib peoples because these roots were a common plant of the rain
forests where they lived. In eastern Venezuela,
many indigenous groups still make casabe. It is their chief bread-like staple.
Indigenous communities, such as the Ye-Kuana, Kari-Ña, Yanomami,
Guarao or Warao descended from the Caribe or Arawac nations, still make casabe.[6]To make casabe, the starchy root of bitter cassava is ground to a pulp, then squeezed to expel a milky, bitter liquid called yare. This carries the poisonous substances with it out of the pulp. Traditionally, this squeezing is done in a sebucan, an 8 to 12-foot (3.7 m) long, tube-shaped, pressure strainer, woven in a characteristic helical pattern from palm leaves. The sebucan usually is hung from a tree branch or ceiling pole, and it has a closed bottom with a loop that is attached to a fixed stick or lever, which is used to stretch the sebucan. When the lever is pushed down, stretching the sebucan, the helical weaving pattern causes the strainer to squeeze the pulp inside. This is similar to the action of a Chinese finger trap. The pulp is spread in thin, round cakes about 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter on a budare to roast or toast.
Thin and crisp cakes of casabe are often broken apart and eaten like crackers. Like bread, casabe can be eaten alone or with other dishes. Thicker casabe usually are eaten slightly moistened. A sprinkle of a few drops of liquid is enough to transform a dry casabe into a very soft and smooth bread similar to the softest slice of a wheat bread loaf. Because of its capacity to absorb liquid immediately, casabe may cause someone to choke, but goes down quickly with a sip of liquid.
In Guyana, the casabe is called cassava bread. It is prepared with an instrument called a matape by the natives of the Rupununi Savanah and other areas of the country that have a high concentration of Amerinidians. In Jamaica, it is called bammy.
In Brazil, the cassava flatbread is called beiju or tapioca.
Tapioca pearls
Tapioca
pearls are also known as boba in some cultures. It is produced by
passing the moist starch through a sieve under pressure. Pearl tapioca is a
common ingredient in Asian desserts such as falooda, kolak, sago soup, and in sweet drinks such as bubble
tea, fruit slush and taho,
where they provide a chewy contrast to the sweetness and texture of the drink.
Small pearls are preferred for use in puddings. In Brazil, those pearls are
cooked with wine or other liquid to add flavor, and are called Sagu.Large pearls are preferred for use in drinks. These large pearls most often are brown, not white (and traditionally are used in black or green tea drinks), but today are available in a wide variety of pastel colors. They are also available as an option in shave ice and hot drinks. In addition to their use in puddings and beverages, a recent innovation has been to cook tapioca pearls inside cakes.
PRICE
$4.93/KG OR $2.24/IB
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com
website: www.franchiseminerals.com
Comments
Post a Comment