“Man, it’s a long way to Mordor,” complained Frodo. “Can I have a piggyback ride?”
“No,” snapped Sam. “No more piggyback rides.” Sam had had enough. He was drawing the line. All Frodo had done for the past week was complain and ask for piggyback rides, and frankly Sam was sick of it. Who made Frodo master, anyway? As far as Sam was concerned, all Frodo had done was accidentally inherit an evil magic ring. Sam was the one who actually knew how to do useful stuff, like garden, and cook. What a useless lug, he thought.
“Sorry Sam,” said Frodo meekly. “Could I have some lembas bread then? Feeling a bit peckish.”
Sam reached into his pack and pulled out a few crackers from their dwindling supply. “Pace yourself,” he started to say, but Frodo had already grabbed the whole bunch of crackers and stuffed them in his mouth, spraying crumbs all over his velvet vest.
Sam sighed and took out his map to check their route. “Once we reach the peak, we’ll camp for the night,” he said.
“Okay,” agreed Frodo. But they had barely gone a half mile before Frodo was hunched over, gripping his stomach.
“What’s wrong now, Mr. Frodo?”
“Those lembas crackers…ooh…not sitting so well,” gasped Frodo.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sam reached for an unopened package and began to read: “Salt from the Elvish seas, whole, unprocessed flaxen wheat from organic Lothlorien fields, fresh, raw milk from Elven cows…”
Frodo’s stomach rumbled loudly.
“Argh,” said Sam. “Stay here.”
“What a dummy,” thought Sam. Instagram @hyin_chan
Stupid bugger, he thought to himself, as he backtracked down the mountain. Never follows his doctor’s orders. But he felt a bit guilty for not checking the package beforehand. Arriving at the bottom of the mountain, Sam stopped at a field of stocky green plants which bore a striking resemblance to a certain Schedule-I plant that shall remain unnamed and doesn’t even enter into this story, minus this short illustrative analogy. He sat down in the dirt and dug at the base of the plants until he had uncovered several large, brown tubers. After peeling and grating the tubers with his pocketknife, he built a small fire and soon his concoction was browning in a makeshift oven of volcanic stones. An hour later, he had packed everything up and was on his way back to Frodo.
“Here you are,” said Sam, handing Frodo a hot, steaming parcel.
Frodo sniffed the package a few times, his nostrils filling with the fragrant scents of rosemary and garlic. “What is it?”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, Mr. Frodo – but if they could, they’d choose that. Fit for a king, if I do say so myself. Even the elves wouldn’t turn their noses down at it. So next time you’re feeling peckish, you leave the lembas to me, and stick with that.”
Frodo took a bite of the fresh, hot bread, and a look of wonder came over his face.
“Why Sam…this is, like, the best bread ever! Guess we’d better hurry so I can have more for dinner!” He leapt to his feet with newfound energy, and the hobbits continued on their way.
- 2 1-pound packages [frozen] grated cassava
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 2-3 tsp sea salt
- 2 tb nutritional yeast (optional)
- 5-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced (optional - or 1 tb of garlic powder)
- 1 tsp black pepper (optional, non-AIP)
- 2 tb dried or fresh chopped rosemary (optional)
- For the full recipe, check out Best of Flash Fiction Kitchen, available here.
NOM
In which Julie’s hand and hairband make a guest appearance
I like to call this one, “rosemary, trapped!”
Bread served on a platter of bread
Yes, this is a lot of pictures of bread
But it really is the best bread ever
Therefore you must be inundated with photos
Including this darling mini-bread rendition. Okay stopping now. (More pics on Instagram, follow me @flashfictionkitchen!)
How many cups would you use of grated cassava if not using prepackaged pre-grated cassava?
Hi Jillian! about 4 cups – you might not need to bake it as long if using fresh grated cassava (i.e. there might be less water) – good luck! 🙂
Another great story! 🙂 I am definitely bookmarking this recipe and will be making it next time I pick up some yuca. It looks pretty damn good!
Thanks Nicole! Let me know how it turns out, and enjoy! 🙂
If you only have cassava flour, is this still possible and what would the measurements be??
Thanks
Hi Naomi – I think the texture would be pretty different with cassava flour, but if you only have cassava flour I recommend mixing it with dried coconut to simulate a similar texture to grated cassava – I’d try 2 cups of dried coconut + 2 cups of cassava flour to start. You could also try just with cassava flour but my guess is that it would probably be pretty dense. I’ll try another version at some point with cassava flour, will keep you posted!
Is the packaged cassava that you use precooked or raw?Thanks!
It’s raw…I’ve never seen precooked packaged cassava (is it out there)?
Thank you for yet another outstanding recipe & great story. FYI I used Yams cause I’m feeling that Cassava may no longer be my friend anymore (Insert lots of tears and sobs) Turned out great and everyone down to the 3 year old devoured it. For anyone else doing the swap I needed to cook it for about 20 minutes longer BUT that could also be my oven becoming a bit dodgy on the heating front.
Such a good idea to substitute yams! Did you just grate them raw beforehand? I’ll have to try that, it sounds like an awesome AIP bread idea (and sorry about cassava, I’ve been thinking I need to not depend so heavily on it myself…). Thanks for the comment Tanya, glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
Hi Julie,
Yes I just had frozen yams and grated them up and followed your recipe exactly. Just had some reheated now in a lovely bowl of Brown (Beef, offal & assorted veg soup) was so good. I did use less rosemary only because I find rosemary a pretty heavy duty flavour. I used 1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary. I have been using Cassava & Tapioca so much over the last couple of years but the last 2 Cassava cakes I made I noticed I was getting a sore throat & was fatigued so I’m being wary. No strange symptoms with the yams 🙂 Have you used Taro much?
Not so much for baking (probably because I have never found it pre-grated and it’s a pain to peel & grate), and also because I’m always a bit suspicious of the oxalic acid which has also sometimes made my throat itch (but only usually when I eat taro leaves/greens) – but I do like it in savory cooking. Actually I should have a purple yam/sweet potato haupia pie dish post coming up soon, and I’d love to try yams as a bread too! Good to alternate the AIP starches 😉
What is holding it together? I don’t see a binder to hold the grated cassava (or grated yams) together in a way that allows you to “Pour” the batter. Am I missing something?
Hi, The natural gooeyness of the starchy roots provides the bind. It is still somewhat crumbly when cooked but not terribly so. Ive found that I like it very thin and because of that the crumble is less of an issue.
Yes that’s right, cassava is its own natural binder. I haven’t needed to add anything additional, although you could always experiment with a bit of additional tapioca starch, or gelatin and see what happens…
I just bought frozen grated cassava to make this bread recipe. But I’m confused, I’ve read that cassava root is toxic if not properly prepared. I’m assuming this is safe to consume, otherwise it wouldn’t be sold in stores?
Yes that’s right – cassava always needs to be cooked to neutralize any toxins, but the commercial types of cassava have lower amounts to begin with and cooking should neutralize them pretty much entirely (I think soaking also works).
I tried to make this but I might be missing something or the recipe might be missing some liquid. My grated cassava meal/flour that’s kept in the fridge was mostly dry. I had to add some water (1 Cup) for everything to mix. I’m wondering if maybe I should have added some kind of milk instead. It took a long time to bake & it got very hard in parts. The softer portions were edible & had a good taste, but I need to know what the problem was before attempting again. Thanks.
Hi Lorna – did you use cassava meal, flour, or frozen grated cassava? The recipe calls for the latter and it won’t turn out the same if you use any of the other variants, so it would helpful to have a better sense. When you use a package of frozen grated cassava you shouldn’t need to add any additional liquid.
Thanks, I guess I was using the meal. I’ve never seen frozen grated cassava. I think I’ll try again with the meal & water or milk but remove from the oven sooner than I did.
Wondering if it freezes well?
It does! I just pop it in the microwave or reheat in the stove (altho typically I eat it too fast to save any 😉
Can I use fresh grated cassava? Any special instructions for doing that?
Hi Kristine – yes I’ve made it with fresh cassava. Usually the dough is just a bit dryer so maybe just watch the cooking time (also the finer you can grate it the better to ensure it all cooks through – you can also consider adding a bit (1/4 c) of water although that usually just extends the baking time). Good luck!
What is the thickest you would recommend making this?
If you make it thicker than 1cm it will probably be gooey in the middle and not get crispy. (That said you could still try it in a loaf pan and see if you like the results.) Thinner than .5 cm usually results in more browning / a cracker-like texture depending how long you bake it for.
Do you need a really high powered food processor to grate fresh cassava?
Hi Skip – well you could grate it by hand, it is just a lot of work. Probably a regular food processor would work as well.
This was delicious! I only have one concern, does the baking neutralize the toxins in raw cassava? After I ate all of it I read that Cassava needs to be cooked thoroughly to get rid of the cyanide… does baking really get rid of it all? Greetings from Germany 🙂
Hi Franziska! Yes I believe baking neutralizes potential toxins, and I’ve also read that the commercial cassava commonly consumed in the west (as opposed to sub-Saharan African) tends to contain much lower amounts of potential cyanide. May be good to rotate and not consume all the time but I’ve never noticed or had a problem or reaction to it. 🙂
This looks amazing….I am going to try it with cassava flour (and the coconut add ins you suggested.)