Tapioca. Cassava. Manioc. Yuca. Fleshy, starchy tubers with tough brown skin and crisp white flesh, originally from Brazil but now widely cultivated. There are two types, sweet and bitter. Avoid the bitter one. Throughout the Amazon basin there are 26 varieties, each thriving under different conditions. The process of making it into flour or tapioca removes the toxins.
Black peppercorns, the fruit of a perennial vine with large leaves and white flowers. Green peppercorns are the unripe fruits picked early and pickled. Black peppercorns are picked just before they ripen and white peppercorns are the ripe, black peppercorns with the black skin flaked off. They are best kept whole and ground when required. Historically, pepper was one of the world's most important spices. Columbus sailed West, not East, in search of pepper in the East Indies. Instead he found the Americas and allspice.
Cloves. The unopened flower buds of a tree, dried in the sun. They are very aromatic and widely used in Indian cooking.
