472 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



country, " mandioca ") is the staple food of the 

 Paraguayan, whether he be Indian or mixed Indo- 

 Spanish, and is, consequently, extensively grown all 

 over the country. Of it the native makes his bread, 

 his tapioca, and his starch, and on it he feeds his 

 horses, cattle, pigs, and poultry, and even his dogs 

 and cats. The ordinary method of cooking mandioca 

 is to boil it after carefully removing all the thick 

 peel ; and so cooked it is a perfect substitute for the 

 potato when eaten with any kind of meat. It can 

 also be baked or roasted, as you describe, without 

 peeling; and when peeled, cut in thin slices, and 

 fried in deep fat, it is just as good as potato chips. 

 Cold boiled mandioca also, cut up and fried, is de- 

 licious — much more so than potatoes so cooked — at 

 least my husband and I think so now after five 

 years' experience. You say that the plant you tested 

 was of two years' growth. Here it is seldom left 

 lony:er than one year, as after that time it does not 

 cook soft and mealy, but assumes a waxy or soapy 

 consistency after boiling. If you wish to taste 

 mandioca at its best you should dig up some that has 

 been planted only one year. I think perhaps even 

 Mr. Root would admit that it was at least equal to 

 potato then. It should be peeled carefully, washed, 

 and put into boiling water with salt, and boiled for 

 20 to 30 minutes. As soon as it is cooked the water 

 must be strained off and the vegetable allowed to 

 dry. The water it is boiled in must be thrown 

 away, as it is said to contain a strong solution of 

 prussic acid. I do not know if this is true, but I 

 have no wish to test it practically. Of the many 

 other ways in which mandioca is cooked here I will 

 give you one or two which I have tried myself. 



1. Peel and wash the mandioca; cut it into pieces 

 of a size to go easily into the meat-mincer, and grind 

 it as fine as possible, first placing a cup or bowl 

 under the handle end of the machine to catch the 

 milky juice which comes out freely as the vegetable 

 is ground. After grinding, unscrew the machine 

 from the table without taking apart, and add the 

 liquid still remaining in it to that in the bowl. If 

 this is allowed to stand for a few minutes the starch 

 (which is really tapioca) will be found to be precip- 

 itated with a clear yellowish water on the top. This 

 water should be thrown off and fresh poured on, 

 stirring up well, and again allowing the mixture to 

 settle. In a few minutes more this water also can 

 be thrown off, leaving the white starch, which may 

 either be dried by evaporation in the sun, but not on 

 the stove, as this turns it to a kind of gelatinous 

 substance, or used at once as follows: To two table- 

 spoonfuls of the wet starch add enough cold milk 

 to mix to a thin paste, putting the remainder of one 

 pint of milk on to boil, with a little salt, and sugar 

 to taste. When boiling, pour in the starch and boil 

 until it thickens, stirring all the time. When thick 

 enough, take it off the fire and add a beaten egg. 

 Pour into a deep pie-dish or shallow bowl and bake 

 until done. This is very nice with fruit pies and 

 puddings, stewed fruit, jam, or even by itself. 



2. To make a tapioca pudding the starch must be 

 quite dry and powdery. Boil the milk in a sauce- 

 pan, with a little salt, and sugar to taste, and when 

 boiling sprinkle in the starch slowly, from the hand, 

 stirring all the time. When the tapioca is trans- 

 parent take it off the fire, add one or two beaten 

 eggs, pour all into a deep dish, and bake till nicely 

 browned on lop. Of course one can add any flavor- 

 ing to either of these before baking. 



Of the mandioca that has passed through the 

 mincer, very nice fritters can be made in the same 

 way as those of raw grated potato, adding sufficient 

 well-beaten eggs to make them nice and light. Flour 

 may also be added at discretion. But the principal 

 use to which I have put this " afrecho," as it is 

 called here, is to make bread of it. 



3. Flour, owing to several causes, has been very 

 expensive for many months, thus raising the price 

 of bread ; and as we eat a good deal of bread it 



became necessary to find some material which would 

 "reduce the cost of living." So I experimented with 

 this afrecho, with flour in various proportions, and 

 found it very satisfactory, if mixed in the proportion 

 of 3 to 1 — i. c, % lb. of flour to V4 lb. of mandioca. 

 This is for baking-powder, or sour-milk-and-soda 

 bread. I do not use yeast at all. I have also mixed 

 maize meal with the above, using V^ lb. flour and 

 Vi lb. each of the other ingredients. Proceed as in 

 ordinary biscuit-making, and bake either in small 

 cakes or in a loaf. The latter requires one hour to 

 bake. Cold cooked mandioca, well mashed, can also 

 be used to make " scones " in the same manner as 

 cold potatoes are used. It can be ground in the 

 mincer; but before doing so the stringy substance in 

 the center must be removed. 



In a former number of GLEANINGS you mentioned 

 the fact of Mr. and Mrs. Terry using a gallon and a 

 half of honey in a year, implying that this was a 

 record. What will you say when I tell you that my 

 husband and I (and our cat) eat thirty gallons of 

 honey in one year? I mention the cat because it is 

 ravenous for honey, eating mouthfuls of bread and 

 honey " turn about " with my husband. It sits be- 

 side him, sharing his chair; and if he neglects to 

 give it some as soon as he has reached that stage of 

 the meal, it bites his hand gently, or puts out a paw 

 to intercept the coveted sweet on its way to its 

 master's mouth. If these methods fail it jumps on 

 to his shoulder and proceeds -to lick his hair, holding 

 the head steady meanwhile with its claws, and this 

 performance always results in a big piece of bread 

 and honey being given to the spoiled animal. We 

 have no children, so that the example does no harm, 

 and only amuses us. 



We use honey as a substitute for sugar in nearly 

 everything, even in tea and coffee, and in jams, 

 jellies, and marmalade, in all of which it is very 

 satisfactory. I have also used it in frying meat and 

 vegetables. It gives them a delicious flavor, if too 

 much is not used. A tablespoonful is quite enough, 

 as a rule. 



I may add that I enjoy reading Gleanings as 

 much as my husband does, though I have nothing at 

 all to do with the bees; and I always read Our 

 Homes and hope you will be spared to write that 

 part for many years to come. 



Gertrude M. Brown. 



Villarica, Paraguay, March 27. 



The cassava grown in Florida is one of 

 the easiest plants to grow 1 have ever gotten 

 hold of. Along in February or March we 

 cut the canes in pieces about as large as 

 corncobs. These are bedded close together 

 like sweet potatoes. When warm weather 

 comes in April almost every cutting will 

 make a nice little plant if grown in good 

 soil. These are then planted out four feet 

 apart each way; and with very little care 

 they will crowd out the weeds and every- 

 thing else; and they make a very fair 

 growth on the Florida sand without any 

 fertilizer; but of course tliey do better on 

 well-worked fertile ground. On page 8.3 I 

 made mention of a root as long as my leg 

 and nearly as big; but this was the growth 

 of two winters. We cooked some of this 

 big root, but did not see but it was just as 

 good as the little tubers say a foot or two 

 long and an inch or two in diameter. We 

 now have a vegetable-cutter for grinding 

 the roots for poultry. It came from Sears, 



