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What is Yuca?

Yuca root is also known as cassava, manioc, or arrowroot. It is unrelated to the flowering yucca plants found in landscapes across the Southwest.
In the Caribbean and the Americas, it is known as yuca or cassava.
In Argentina, it is known as mandioca,
in Mexico: guacamote
in Brazil: macacheira
and in the Philippines, kamoteng kahoy .
Yuca roots have a thick “bark” that must be removed before cooking and some larger roots have a woody core in the center that is best to be cut out, also.
Yuca is starchy and is a staple food for many cultures because it is drought tolerant and will grow even in exhausted soil. It can be fried like French fries, mashed like potatoes, or dried and ground into flour.
The flavor is slightly sweet, similar to taro. Due to cyanide-like toxins, yuca must be cooked before eating.
What Does Yuca Taste Like?
Yuca has a very mild nutty taste to it. When cooked it is soft and very creamy, almost like a mashed potato. It is the perfect canvas for many dishes. This is because all the flavor will penetrate the soft yuca.
How to Cook Cassava?
You can almost cook it in any way just like you will do with potatoes.
Boiled- The most basic form is to first boil the cassava. You can eat it plain or make different meals by adding a few ingredients like yuca made in escabeche. Mash- You can also boil and mash it. You can make a Puerto Rican trifongo with the mashed yuca.
Grated- You make a paste from grating the yuca and fry it. You can stuff it with anything you like. In the Caribbean, they make stuffed yuca fritters.
Sliced- But if you slice yuca and fry it you get chips made with yuca.
Fried- You can boil it and fry it after to make crispy cassava fries.