I struggled with the headline for today’s column. I was playing around with the inspiration for the dish – Butter Cassava – and then I also considered Buttery Cassava. Both seemed not quite right so I opted for Cassava with Butter because it is truer to what the dish is about. Regardless of the name, this is the type of dish that is always a winner for all cassava (yuca) loving people like me, and hopefully you. Boil ‘n Fry anyone?
So let me clarify about the name before we get to the actual dish. Butter Cassava is a Trinbagonian dish of cassava cooked with lots of butter, aromatics and fresh herbs. The finished dish is thick and creamy with big chunks of cassava; having been cooked until it almost melts. It is damn delicious! My dish looks nothing like that so I didn’t want to falsely advertise. Thinking of the title Buttery Cassava conjured images of melted, mashed cassava, and while the cassava in my dish are soft, as you can see, I did not cook them until melted nor did I mash them. Again, I did not want to misrepresent, hence Cassava with Butter.
