Talk:Cassava/@comment-27110032-20151023141407

Note:  fresh cassava leaves and cassava tubers contain cyanide. Thus, a thorough soaking and rinsing process to leech out the cyanide is absolutely required before using fresh cassava in any recipes. The cyanide is inside the leaves and tubers, so a simple outside rinse is not sufficient. It means that to use fresh cassava safely, one needs to do soaking and multiple rinsings, with pressing or squeezing out the rinse water from the leaves including with the last rinse with boiled water and discard all rinse water after every rinse. This adds at least an hour of pre-recipe preparation. Fresh cassava tubers can require three days of soaking in water with multiple rinses. It can aso be cut up in small chunks and sun-dried to reduce the cyanide content. Here in Africa this a daily routine and part of preparation of any recipe that uses fresh cassava. Commercially prepared frozen cassava leaves or canned cassava leaves or cassava starch from tubers have had this important step done already.

Once this proper soak/rinsing is complete, then the rinsed cassava leaves are safe to be used in recipes.

chikwange:  cassava 'bread' cooked cassava dough cooked in forest leaves is a very popular starchy accompaniment to sauces across central Africa

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cassava_Bread_-_cassava_cooked_in_leaf_wrap_%28Kwanga,_Chikwange%29.jpg