Note 19 — CHAP. V.

This generous root requires but little preparation to make it serve as a substitute for bread. When taken out of the ground they wash and scrape it clean, and then rasp it on a coarse grater of iron or copper, press the juice from it, and place it on a hot surface, a shallow copper-pan for instance, four or five feet in diameter, or a clay one, with a brick fire underneath; while drying it is constantly stirred, and when the moisture is completely evaporated, it is immediately fit for use. If preserved from wet, it will keep good a long time. In broths and soups it becomes gelatinous, and affords rich nourishment; it is particularly good when eaten with cheese. The wild or spurious mandioca, called Aipim, is little inferior, when roasted, to fine chesnuts. The Portuguese introduce it at table, boiled as well as roasted.