Cassava

This past weekend, my friend/old roommate, who is originally from NY, visited family up in New Jersey and there was apparently a whole heaping of treats being bestowed upon her. I got a text on Saturday afternoon insisting that I stop by her place first thing Monday night so that I could relieve her of the burden of having to throw out spoiled treats in a couple of weeks. She is Afro/Indo Guyanese, by the way.

Carolyn: I am going to have lots of Guyanese pastries when I return on Monday. Pls, pls stop by to get some.

Me: Do u have parasad?

Carolyn: OMG! U know that?! No, I have pine tarts, cheese rolls, salara, cassava pone, etc...

Me: Of course, I know! Lol. Cassava was next on my list! ;)

Carolyn: Great. I'll keep a bag for u...

So I picked up my cassava yesterday evening and just the sight of it alone was enough to get me salivating. My roommate, a Yankee, saw me nibbling on the square of Heavenly goodness and asked me what it was and, much to my surprise, I could barely explain it to her! 

"Cassava..." I started.

"Like the root?" She looked quite perplexed.

"Yeah. They do stuff to it. Mash it up and put condense milk, sugar, coconut, etc... It's a Caribbean thing."

Then I nibbled some more...

It's a yummy thing.