manioc

... is a kind of large root, that is a staple of Bahian food. You see it for sale on the street, at vegetable stands, in the supermarket, everywhere. It looks like the small, slightly twisty and/or warped trunk of a small (2-3" diameter) tree, with thin dark brown bark and very white beneath. The ones sold this way are meant to be cut up into slighly smaller, say, 6" long, pieces and boiled. Once boiled it's much softer, like when you do the same with carrots, and has the taste and consistency of stringy potatoes (consistency like sweet potatoes but taste and color like white potatoes) but maybe a little bit more sugary. Alone it's not that great, just like boiled potatoes on their own aren't that much to talk about, but with whatever you'd put on potatoes - butter, sour cream, etc. - it's really, really good.

Manioc roots are also ground down into a kind of flour and then fried, and then served as a side dish like rice with almost every Bahian main course, which inevitably has some kind of seafood as its main ingredient. The name of the fried flour stuff escapes me at the moment but it's sort of a dull yellow. The best way I can describe its taste is like french fries with the consistency of something like heavy wheat flour, although that doesn't really do it justice because it's definitely heavier than flour. You can eat it straight but most people mix it with a sauce of some kind or other, of which there is no shortage here, so that it goes down easier because otherwise it's a bit dry.

As many of you already know, I've never been one to go off at any length about any kind of food. Beats me why - my guess is that my lack of interest in the details of food has some genetic basis. But food is a strikingly integral part of Bahian culture. I can't imagine trying to describe the place without describing the food. When I was home in the States between trips to Salvador and someone mentioned Brazil, I would think first of the food more than anything and it would take me back instantly. And, besides the people here, it was one of the things I missed the most when I was gone. I know that any extended amount of time away from Bahia will be painful if for no other reason than being away from the cuisine. Coming from me that is an insane thing to say, but it's true. It's one of those things I never would have guessed or understood if I'd never come here.