MANDIOCA. 



ANNA R. HENDERSON. 



TUT ANDIOCA (Jatropha Manikot L) 



/Y\ is the principal farinaceous 



i \. production of Brazil, and is 



largely raised in nearly all parts 



of South America; in fact, is the main 



bread food of that continent, and is 



therefore worthy of consideration. 



It is difficult for dwellers in northern 

 climes to conceive of a land which 

 does not look largely to fields of wheat 

 or corn for sustentation; yet millions 

 inhabit such a region, and strange to 

 say, derive their bread from a root 

 which combines nutritious and poison 

 ous qualities. 



Mandioca is indigenous to Brazil, 

 and the Indians, strange to say, dis 

 covered methods of separating its nu 

 tritive and detrimental qualities. The 

 Portuguese, learning its use from them, 

 invented mills for its preparation, and 

 it became the bread food of a great 

 tropical region where wheat and Indian 

 corn do not thrive. 



The plant has a fibrous stalk, three 

 or four feet high, with a few branches 

 and but little foliage; light-green five- 

 fingered leaves. The roots are brown 

 tubers, often several inches thick, and 

 more than a foot in length. 



It is planted from slices of the 

 tubers and is of slow growth, taking 

 eighteen months to mature. The poi 

 sonous quality is confined to the juice 

 of the roots, and even this may be 

 rendered innocent by boiling. It then 

 becomes vinegar by fermentation. The 

 leaves may be eaten by cattle. The 

 roots must be ground soon after dig 

 ging, as they become putrid in a few 

 days. ^?p%$ 



The Indians scraped the roots to a 

 pulp with oyster shells, and after 

 pressing it, dried it before the fire, or 

 cut it under water into thin slices which 

 they dried. 



I will now describe the Portuguese 

 method of making farina from man- 

 dioca, as I witnesssed it in my Brazil 

 ian home, a fazenda, plantation, near 

 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mandioca, 



which loves a dry soil, was grown on 

 the hillsides among the orange and the 

 coffee trees. It was cultivated by the 

 hoe. When its great masses of tubers 

 were mature they were dug and hauled 

 to the farina house, a cool room, tile- 

 roofed, dirt-floored, and which con 

 tained mill, presses, and drying-pans. 

 Then the merry work began. The 

 negroes, who love to work in company, 

 would sing, as, seated on benches or 

 stools, they scraped the brown skin 

 from the tubers. These were washed 

 and fed to the mill, while the children 

 took turns riding the mule which 

 pulled the creaking beam that turned 

 the mill. 



The tubers are very juicy and, on 

 being ground, make a milky white 

 mass, which is put into soft baskets 

 made of braided palm leaves. These 

 baskets are placed under a heavy screw 

 press, and the milky juice which flows 

 from them is caught in tubs and set 

 aside to settle. In twenty-four hours 

 in the bottom of the tub is a deposit of 

 starch several inches thick. This is 

 the well-known tapioca of commerce, 

 extensively used for puddings and 

 other delicate foods; good also for 

 starching clothes. The clear juice 

 above it, a deadly poison, is drawn off 

 through underground tiles that no 

 chicken or other living creature may 

 taste it. The damp pulp in the baskets 

 is transferred to large concave trays 

 of brass or copper placed over a 

 slow fire, where it is constantly 

 stirred until entirely dry. It is now 

 ready for use, is as coarse as corn 

 meal, but very white, and has a pleas 

 ant flavor, resembling popcorn. It 

 cannot be made into loaves, as much 

 moisture would make it too glutinous 

 to bake. It is eaten dry or mixed with 

 beans or other vegetables at the table, 

 or it is dampened and salted and baked 

 on a griddle in a hoe-cake half an inch 

 thick. In this way it is very nice and 

 sweet. It is a favorite breakfast dish 

 made into a clear glutinous mush called 



72 



