What is Tapioca and where does it come from? Is man made or natural?

Question

remember that horrible shite you got a school that nobody ate, the dinner ladies called it tapioca but everyone else called it frogs eggs! what the hell was it and where did it come from??

Answer 1

Tapioca is a beady starch obtained from the root of the cassava, used for puddings and as a thickening agent in cooking.
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/tapioca

Answer 2

What is tapioca?
Where were you during your childhood? When your parents were trying to convince you that tapioca counted as a legitimate dessert? That is was delicious, and that all those lumps were not the eggs — or worse, eyes — of some unpalatable creature that hid under your bed at night? Perhaps we come from different generations….

Tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava plant, which is native to the Western Hemisphere, but now much more widely cultivated in Africa and Asia. It is produced in several forms: a flour, flakes, and pellets or pearls. As with cornstarch, tapioca flour is used as a thickener in both commercial and household cooking.

Pearl tapioca is responsible for the puddings of so many childhood memories. Alan Davidson, author of the weighty Oxford Companion to Food (Canada, UK), minces no words on the subject. Tapioca and other milk puddings are "sometimes despised by the ignorant," he says, "that is to say persons who have no knowledge of how good they are when properly made."

Pearl Tapioca is found in most supermarkets in this country. Other forms are found in health food stores and some Asian markets.

Answer 3

Tapioca is a starch extracted from the CASSAVA plant. It is native to the Western Hemisphere. Now it is cultivated in Africa and Asia.

Tapioca comes in several forms. Flour, Flakes, Pellets, or Pearls.

Pearl Tapioca is found in most supermarkets in this country. Also, health food stores and some Asian markets. On most boxes of Pearl Tapioca, you will find many great recipes and uses for Tapioca. Hope this helps. RLJ.

Answer 4

Tapioca is a thickening agent made from the cassave root. It has nothing to do with fish eggs or frog spawn. It is relatively tastless and has the texture of a gel-like consistancy. Tapioca pudding tastes like vanilla. I often wondered why they don't make it in different flavors like smooth puddings.

Answer 5

Tapioca is man made from natural item. It comes from a root called manioc or cassava, which is first dried. Tapioca is made from manioc flour a lot like pasta is made from wheat.

And tapioca isn't just found in pudding. It's very popular in other cultures. My favorite form of it is the pearls in Bubble Tea, which can be found in lots of major cities in the usa.

Answer 6

The best answer i can give is: Nature. Destruction is a natural part of the life span of everything. You can't really compare Man-made and natural disasters. They have different pathologies and results. Pompeii destroyed a whole civilization, The civil war destroyed a way of life for some people. Disasters are always going to cause some distruction, but to the extent, it just depends. A tornado may cause 20 deaths, but cherenobyl (sp) killed hundreds or thousands. An earthquake could kill thousands but a man-made bomb can only kill 10. So we can't control destruction or natural disasters. We can only strive to understand both. Whether human-made or natural.

Answer 7

Tapioca comes From the Cassava Yam so it would be man made

Answer 8

It's manioc, yo! Also called cassava, that's a starchy root that get pounded into flour, then mixed with water and rolled into little pearls. The pearls in "bubble tea" are usually sweetened with molassas, which is made from a grain called sorgum. But that's another question. Rock on!

Answer 9

It's manioc, yo! Also called cassava, that's a starchy root that get pounded into flour, then mixed with water and rolled into little pearls. The pearls in "bubble tea" are usually sweetened with molassas, which is made from a grain called sorgum. But that's another question. Rock on!

Answer 10

It's the root of a shrub that grows wild in many parts of Asia and I have many on my land. Wild boar especially love it so it is used by many villagers to lure the boar so they can be killed. The root is beaten into a pulp by softening with water, filtered then dried to form a kind of powder which is then reheated and used as a staple food in the same way as potato or rice. On it's own, it has little or no flavour so it is used in conjunction with soups, gravies and spicy sauces locally. In parts of West Africa, it is known as Gary (spelling?) and is used in the same way as in Asia