Cassava Pone
UH BELLY FULL ! ISLAND CUISINE
Grandma ’ s Kitchen !
Watching my grandmother prepare meal after meal was the reason I grew up to love cooking . She made every meal seem ‘ Oh So Easy ’. A sprinkle of this , a dash of that and in no time at all the meal was prepared . One of our favourites and a popular dessert for many Bajans is Cassava Pone .
I must admit that if Granny ever tried to give me cassava as a child , my nose would crinkle , my eyes well up with tears , I ’ d stick my tongue out and run off to hide at the utter thought of having to eat the monstrosity . Fortunately as a child I never quite put together that pone was made with the ingredient that I dreaded so , and it was a good thing too or I might have missed out on this popular treat .
Cassava is a tuberous , starchy root or ground provision and it is the third largest food carbohydrate source in the tropics used to make a wide range of products from alcohol to flour . Granny would purchase the root whole but today the cassava can be bought ready done , grated or prepared as flour – Just another readymade luxury that would have stolen quality time from me and my granny .
Cassava Pone
Ingredients
4 lbs peeled and grated cassava 1 lb sugar 1 tsp salt 1 small grated coconut 2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp grated nutmeg 2 tsp vanilla essence ¼ lb raisins ½ lb butter ¼ lb shortening milk
Method
1 . Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F . 2 . Grease loaf pans .
3 . Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl , adding enough milk to moisten but not soak the mixture .
4 . Allow mixture to sit for 15 minutes , then pour into greased pans and bake for 1¼ hours .
5 . The bread is finished if when stuck with a match stick or fork the end comes out clean .
6 . Allow to cool , then slice .
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