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Cassareep
Cassava syrup
Cassareep: home-made black cassava syrup for pepperpot
Cassareep is what makes Guyana's Christmas pepperpot dark, sweet-savoury and long-keeping, and in Amerindian villages of the Rupununi and along the rivers it is still boiled down from the juice of grated cassava. Traditional cassareep uses bitter cassava, whose raw juice is poisonous until it has been boiled for hours; this home version uses only sweet cassava (the kind sold in shops as yuca), and still boils the juice for a long time, because even sweet cassava must never be eaten raw. A little dark sugar helps it reach the deep colour that slow reduction gives in the villages. The usual mistake is stopping too soon, when it is brown and thin; it should be black and syrupy, like molasses. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat when it coats a spoon thickly, as it thickens much more as it cools.
- Total time
- 220 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 4 ⅜ lb sweet cassava (yuca)only sweet cassava, never bitter cassava
- 2 cups water
- 2 ⅛ oz dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Peel 4 ⅜ lb sweet cassava (yuca) thickly, removing all the brown skin and the pinkish layer under it, and cut out the woody core. Rinse well.
Step 2: Grate finely, or blend in batches with 2 cups water to a wet pulp.
Step 3: Tip the pulp into a muslin cloth or clean tea towel over a bowl and twist hard to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Keep the liquid; the pulp can be used for cassava bread or bojo.
Step 4: Leave the liquid to stand for 20 minutes so the white starch sinks. Gently pour the liquid into a heavy saucepan, leaving the starch behind.
20 minStep 5: Add 1 cinnamon stick, 6 whole cloves, 2 ⅛ oz dark brown sugar and ½ tsp salt. Bring to a full boil and boil hard for at least 30 minutes with the lid off; never taste it before this point. Skim off any foam.
30 minStep 6: Lower to a steady simmer and keep reducing, stirring more often as it darkens, until it is almost black, glossy and coats a spoon like thick syrup, about 2 to 2½ hours in all. You should have about 200 ml.
150 minStep 7: Strain out the spices, cool and pour into a sterilised jar. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 months and use a few tablespoons in pepperpot or stews.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 45 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 11 g
- Fat
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cassareep take?
- About 220 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 180 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
- What can I use instead of whole cloves?
- Ground cloves, ¼ tsp for every 3 whole cloves.
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