Recipe and image by Julia Georgallis.

Tapioca is made from cassava, a root grown in South America and also known as yuca, manioca and mandioca. It’s used quite a lot in Brazilian cooking, either it is eaten in root form – boiled or fried (I love fried manioca, it tastes like a banana had a baby with a potato) or ground down and sprinkled over meat and rice (known as farofa). Or, it becomes a starchy flour and makes stodgy (but nice) cakes. So that I can pass the cassava love on, however, I think by far the the most accessible way to cook with it is the flour, which is called tapioca – pearly white floury beads which can be bought either online, in health shops or in South American supermarkets. I like to make pancakes with it, known affectionately in Brazil as crepiocas for their resemblance to European crepes (except chewier).  For those who are in the no gluten club, this is a good alternative on pancake day.  

Makes

2 crepiocas 

Ingredients
1 egg

150 g Tapioca flour

50 g water 

A well buttered frying pan

Directions
1. Whisk the egg and a little water in a cup, then add it to the tapioca flour and mix together quickly. The consistency should look just like crepe batter.
2. Just like you would to make a European crepe, heat up a well buttered frying pan and pour the tapioca egg mixture into it, flipping it over every 2 minutes or until each side is golden brown.
3. That's it! Now fill it with something nice and go and eat it.