Tapioca, or Manioca. Tapioca.

No. 1519. - Tapioca is a coarsely granular substance obtained by heating, and thus partly changing the moistened starch obtained from the roots of the Janipha manihot, a plant which is a native of Brazil. There are two chief varieties, and about thirty sub-varieties. The root of the sweet cassavas may be eaten with impunity; that of the bitter, which is the most extensively cultivated, abounds in an acrid, milky juice, which renders it highly poisonous if eaten in the recent state. The root is prepared for use by washing, scraping and grating or grinding it into a pulp, which, in the bitter variety, is submitted to pressure so as to separate the deleterious juice. It is now in the state of meal or powder, which is made into bread, cakes or puddings. As the poisonous principle is volatile, the portion which may have remained in the meal is entirely dissipated by the heat employed in cooking. Being nutritious, and at the same time easy of digestion, and destitute of irritating properties, Tapioca forms an excellent diet for the sick and convalescent. It is prepared for use by boiling it in water, and is used, like sago, in soups and puddings. A factitious Tapioca, known as Pearl Tapioca, is made from potato starch, and is sometimes sold as the genuine article.

Note. - The Tapioca obtained from grocers in the United States, is in the form of hard, white, irregular, rough grains. That which is sold under the name of Manioca, is smaller and finer, being preferred to the large Tapioca.

Tapioca Soup, With Broth Or Consomme

No. 1520. - Put four quarts of consomme or broth in a saucepan, and when it boils, drop in it eight ounces of Tapioca or Manioca slowly while stirring it. Let it boil up once, and then set it on the side of the fire to boil slowly until cooked. Then skim it and serve.