Yucca, also known as manioc or cassava, is a white, starchy tropical vegetable that was originally grown by the indigenous peoples who resided in the countries now known as Columbia, Venezuela, and Brazil. These people used yucca as a dietary staple, typically milling the yucca into flour or making a paste from it.

Today, yucca is grown on plantations throughout many Latin American countries including Costa Rica and Cuba. As yucca grows, it is cultivated into a bush-like plant, whose fibrous root is the edible part. An important aspect to growing yucca properly is knowing when to harvest it. If harvested too late, damages to the root can occur, such as root rot or the root turning into a wood-like state. Both types of damages make the yucca unacceptable for consumption and can destroy a crop's worth. Thus, yucca farmers take care to ensure that their yucca plants are grown according to proven methods. This ensures that the yucca develops properly and that the farmers can consistently sell their crops.

Because yucca is a versatile vegetable, its usage has spread to many non-Latin populations. For example, 10.5 million lbs. of yucca were sold last year in the United States alone. Additionally, every day more people are becoming aware of its use in cooking. This is because it can easily be substituted for potatoes in soups and stews and it contains a high amount of vitamin C and carbohydrates. Yucca is also a good source of dietary fiber and contains approximately 120 calories per 3.5-ounce serving.

You can identify fresh yucca by its thick, dark brown skin that resembles a tree's bark. Yucca found in many stores is typically sized from 9 to 15 inches in length, although it can grow much larger. To use fresh yucca, peel away the skin using a sharp knife to expose its white flesh. This flesh can then be cut into pieces for boiling, frying, or baking purposes. When cooked, yucca contains a tough, string-like fiber throughout its middle section. This string is too hard to be eaten and can be easily removed from the cooked yucca by stripping it away from the softer flesh.

Skinless, pre-cut yucca is also available sold in grocery or ethnic stores in pre-packaged, frozen bags. To use this type of yucca, follow the package instructions for cooking. However, frozen yucca typically takes about 10 minutes to cook. Therefore, if you plan on using frozen yucca, cook the yucca only until it is tender, as overcooking the yucca will tend to make it mushy.

Another use for yucca that is becoming increasingly popular is the production of yucca chips by many food companies. Similar in appearance and taste to potato chips, except a little sweeter, yucca chips are entering the market as a healthy alternative to other snack foods.

When cooking with yucca, many different variations exist for its preparation. Some of the most popular and tasty uses for it include the following:

- Boiling the yucca then covering it with onions and garlic that have been sautéed in either vegetable oil or butter

- Frying the yucca in canola oil until golden, removing it to cool then lightly shaking garlic salt on it

- Adding it along with potatoes and other vegetables into beef-based vegetable soups

Because of its diversity, yucca will continue to be used in the kitchens of many Latin Americans. Additionally, it will increasingly be used among other nationalities as people learn about its traditional use and experiment with new recipes of their own.