My dad approaches cooking like a mad scientist. When I went home for a visit this year and saw a setup of bottles and contraptions for a new obsession, kefir making, I wasn’t surprised. Now he’s drinking kefir by the gallon.

So it’s no wonder I geek out over cooking articles that overdo the experimentation process: “We baked this cake 500 times, and this is why this recipe achieves the perfect crumb.” In fact, I have several reference books on my shelf about the science of ingredients and cooking processes.

I have daydreams of showing up on the doorstep of Harold McGee (the home cook’s celebrity scientist) and asking if I can become a disciple.

It’s this attitude that fuels my healthy interest in cassava, also known as tapioca and manioc. It’s a convenient plant to grow, as it will stay underground for years and doesn’t take much work to raise. I am fascinated by its variety of forms and shape-shifting results. Is there anything it can’t do?

I’ve scared myself on stories of food poisoning — the raw plant converts into cyanide in your digestive system — and read about the labor-intensive preparations for making it into a flour. Tapioca isn’t just a word for pudding anymore.

I love pao de queijo, a Brazilian cheese bread made from tapioca flour. When this flour is cooked, it takes on a chewy quality similar to mochi. I like the idea of a typical American flavor combo being morphed into this chewy, fiery dinner roll. It worked well, even though both my daughter and I were breathing fire due to a particularly spicy jalapeno encounter.

This is like Southwestern cornbread’s globe-trotting cousin.

Chili Cheddar Pao de Queijo

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups tapioca flour
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup roasted green chili or jalapeno, minced
• Jalapeno slices, for garnish (optional)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In saucepan over medium-high, place butter, water, milk and salt. When it boils, immediately remove from heat, add tapioca flour and stir quickly.

Set aside to cool 10 minutes. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cheddar and add remaining cheese to pot, along with eggs and roasted chilies. Stir until mixture has consistency of cottage cheese.

On ungreased cookie sheet, scoop out dough (an ice cream scoop helps with uniformity) about 1/4 cup at a time. Sprinkle tops with leftover cheese and a slice of jalapeno if you like. Bake 15- 18 minutes, or until tops are just turning golden brown. Makes 8.

Approximate nutritional information, per puff: 280 calories, 18 g total fat, 11 g saturated fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 500 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, no fiber, 1 g sugar, 6 g protein

Mariko Jackson blogs about family and food at thelittlefoodie.com. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs., Ph.D., C.N.S.