Boiled Cassava- Mayok Bwi

Boiled Cassava-Mayok Bwi-, eaten with a kari koko ton , which is a Creole  tuna curry cooked with coconut milk and turmeric and flavoured with fresh cinnamon leaves, is my comfort food in the Australian winter!

The cassava is a thick–skinned starchy root vegetable or tuber  shaped like hands with fat fingers. The skin is rough, brown, and covered with a network of fine veins. The flesh is white, hard and brittle. During cooking it tends to split apart in wedges, as shown above. The flavour is nutty and the texture smooth when cooked.

Historical Trivia

Cassava was introduced in the Seychelles Islands by the first 28 settlers when they arrived here on August 27, 1770, aboard ‘Telemaque’ from Ile de France (Mauritius). They came with many kilos of cassava tubers for consumption and many cuttings for cultivation.

In 1772, Pierre Hangard (1732-1812), a former soldier of the ‘Compagnie des Indes‘ took over the settlement on Ste Anne Island and increased the cultivation of food. Besides feeding the entire population, he managed to supply passing vessels with enough victuals for the duration of their following journey until the next port. He grew rice, yam, taro, sweet potato, maize and cassava.

In 1773, when the French explorer Jean François de Galaup, Comte de Lapérouse (1741-1788) visited Ste Anne Island, he was amazed at the amount of food crops that Hangard cultivated. « Il a de plus un champ de manioc de la plus grande beauté » he wrote. With the increasing arrivals of slaves to Seychelles, the cultivation of food crops increased, cassava being high in calories became together with sweet potato, a staple food for the slave population. Every estate on Mahé , Praslin and La Digue allocated a portion of land for the cultivation of cassava, which was invariably consumed boiled. Breadfruit did not exist in Seychelles at that time. It was introduced in the early 1820s from Mauritius.

Source: Tony Mathiot

Gros Manze

In Seychelles, the cassava, together with other starchy rootcrops mentioned above, is categorized as gros manze (fr. gros mangé), literally translated as ‘big food’. I guess they are called as such because they are dense and starchy and not as delicate as the green vegetables. They are in fact not used as vegetables and in most cases they act as a replacement to rice as the starch component of the meal and are mainly served boiled, but they can also be used to produce some other superb dishes, including desserts and snacks.

Cassava can be steamed, baked and made into chips. They are also grated and dried and turned into cassava flour from which we make koudepwen, galet, penpen, magari and moukat. All these dishes will be featured in future posts.

The starchy vegetables, although they are botanically different from each other, all have similar uses in our kitchen and can, to a considerable extent, be substituted one for another.

The two types of cassava

There are two distinct kinds of cassava found in Seychelles, the bitter or mayok anmer, and the sweet or mayok dou or mayok lawet. Both contain Prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid), which can cause cyanide poisoning. The bitter cassava, contains much more of the acid than the sweet cassava. However, when cooked the acid is destroyed making it safe to eat. This is why it is recommended that cassava tubers, as well as the leaves, are always cooked before they can be eaten.

Purchase

Sweet cassava can be purchased year-round at Asian, Latin, or African shops, and can even be found these days in some larger grocery stores. Sweet cassava can be purchased fresh, frozen or grated. If buying fresh whole tuber, ensure that it is firm with no blemishes, bruises, cuts and soft spots or other signs of decay. It’s okay if you find cassava with a cut end exposed — it’s done to give you a good view of the flesh, which should be pure white . Dark streaks running through it can indicate that it’s past its prime and the flavor might be compromised.

Storage

You can store fresh, whole cassava in a cool, dry place and cook it within 1-2 weeks of purchase. It will keep about a week longer if kept in a refrigerator. If you have peeled more than you require, you can place it in cold water in a refrigerator and it will last for around 4 days. Fresh cassava can be frozen. All you need to do is peel it, cut in small pieces and place it in a freezer bag. You may even choose to boil your cassava and place in a refrigerator and will last for about 4 days.

How to Peel Fresh Cassava

Before fresh cassava can be cooked, the outer bark-like peel must be removed, because this is where most of the hydrocyanic acid is located. While it may look like an intimidating root vegetable to peel, it’s really quite easy once you get the hang of it.

Cut the cassava

Place the cassava tuber on a cutting board and cut off the tip and tail of the root. Remove the peel, either with a vegetable peeler or small knife.
If using a knife, the first thing to do is to cut the cassava root into small manageable pieces, approx. 10 cm long.

Peel the cassava

To peel the cassava you have to slice through the peel of each piece vertically – from top to bottom. Be sure to cut through both the brown skin and the thick white layer.

You then gently wedge the knife under the peel so that it lifts up and can be removed in large pieces and you then work your thumbs under one side of the cut. Be sure to get underneath the first white layer too, as it will help you peel the skin off in large chunks. Once you’re underneath the peel, you can work your thumbs down the length of the root, peeling the skin off  like a jacket. You can still use your knife if you do not want to use your thumb.

 Cleaning the peeled cassava

Be sure to remove all the brown peel, as well as the thin white layer just beneath it. Use a knife to remove the thick brown peel and then go over it with a vegetable peeler to remove any remnants. Once peeled, cut away any brown streaks, as these parts are no longer fresh. If the entire cassava is riddled with streaks throw it out.

Usually I prefer to remove the central spindle after, rather than, before cooking. It takes some force to whack through it when you’re cutting the raw cassava into chunks, but it is much easier to detach the spindle from cooked cassava.

Frozen Cassava

If you live out of the tropics, or do not have access to fresh cassava you may use frozen cassava although the texture may not be the same as the fresh one. If using frozen cassava you will find that it will already be cleaned and cut into pieces. Put the frozen cassava straight in boiling water do not defrost before boiling because it can become mushy.

Cooking time

There is no single rule that will help you figure out how much time it will take to cook fresh cassava until fork-tender. A general estimate is 30 minutes, but it might take less time or much longer, depending on the age of your cassava and the degree of softness required. Start testing the vegetable with a fork 15 minutes after the water comes to a boil and continue to test until you reach the desired texture.

Do not boil your cassava for too long as it will become mushy and sticky. Boiled cassava looks slightly translucent and yellow in colour.

Here is the recipe for Boiled Cassava-Mayok Bwi

Did you make this recipe?

I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.

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