The pursuit of a Ph.D. in botany brought Brazil native Daniela Dutra Elliott to the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2008. Now Elliot herself is an educator in the UH system, teaching agriculture at Leeward Community College. Through the years, she has kept a piece of Brazil present in her life via a beloved seafood stew from her hometown of Bahia called bobo de camarao.

Bobo is a standard recipe that is tweaked to individual tastes, but fundamental to the dish is mashed cassava root enriched with creamy coconut milk. Elliott’s version, taught to her by her father, includes white onion, cooked down until sweet, diced red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, a bit of heat from a chili pepper or two, and shrimp, though she said any kind of seafood will do. It is seasoned with a base of fresh garlic cloves, sea salt and black peppercorns, ground into a paste by hand with a mortar and pestle.

It also includes a generous helping of unrefined palm oil, Bahia style, which she has decreased substantially for the recipe she shares here. Its richness is an acquired taste, she said. In fact, versions of bobo from outside Bahia often exclude palm oil. If you’d like to include it, find a bottle at Mercado de la Raza, the Latin grocer on South Beretania Street.

Cassava, native to South America, is an important crop globally because it can withstand drought and poor soil conditions. Cassava root requires cooking to be edible. Fresh roots are best boiled and drained of their cooking water before being used in a recipe.

Cassava root is starchy; in fact, tapioca is made from its starch. Cassava root is boiled, baked and fried in preparations around the world. It can be dried to make flour, fermented to make beer and is often served as bread or dessert.

In Hawaii we have three options for cassava: grated and frozen, waxed and fresh. Grated frozen cassava, often found in ethnic markets, is commonly used in Filipino cooking for baking sticky cakes that resemble mochi (rice cake). Waxed cassava — the wax keeps the root from spoiling — is sourced most often from South America.

Cassava is being grown by Hawaii farmers, though its availability is inconsistent. The problem: Cassava root is extremely perishable, barely lasting beyond a day of being picked. Yet farmers say the crop thrives in Hawaii and that if it took off, it is among locally produced foods that could replace imported potatoes.

That is one of the reasons Elliott eagerly shared her bobo recipe. But it’s not the most important one.

“This dish is especially meaningful to me because it represents a mixing of cultures,” she said. “The cassava is an indigenous food, palm oil came from Africa with the arrival of people from West Africa in Bahia. Other ingredients were introduced by the Portuguese who colonized Brazil. It represents the history of that region. Today, I’d say 80 percent of the population in Bahia is a mix of these groups, just like me.”

BOBO DE CAMARAO, BAHIA STYLE

By Daniela Dutra Elliott

• 4 cups cooked, mashed cassava (about 5 pounds fresh, or 1 16-ounce bag grated frozen)
• 9 ounces coconut milk, or to taste (frozen recommended)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste, plus more to season shrimp
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 pounds tomatoes, diced (substitute with 2 14.5-ounce cans diced or stewed tomatoes)
• 4 tablespoons tomato sauce, for color, if needed
• 1 fragrant chili pepper (such as pimenta de cheiro or habanero)
• 2 pounds shrimp, deveined and heads removed, or other seafood of choice
• 2 limes, juiced
• 2 tablespoons unrefined palm oil, or to taste (optional; find at Latin grocery Mercado De La Raza)
• Chopped cilantro, for garnish

If using fresh cassava, cool, mash with hands, then mix in coconut milk with hands. Set aside. (If using frozen grated cassava, see note below.)

With mortar and pestle, mash garlic with salt and peppercorns. Set aside.

In pot over low, heat olive oil and cook onion slowly until transparent and sweet, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add bell peppers and half of garlic-salt mixture. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce to add color. Add chili pepper. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until tomatoes cook down into sauce.

Meanwhile, season shrimp with lime juice and salt.

Add mashed cassava to vegetables; return to full boil. Add shrimp and remaining garlic-salt mixture. Cook until pink. Add a tablespoon palm oil, if using. Top with chopped cilantro. Serve hot. Serves 6.

>> Note: If using frozen grated cassava, follow recipe for garlic- salt mixture, vegetables and seasoning shrimp. Cook cassava in 2 cups water. When it melts, cook on low 10 minutes, stirring often. Add up to 1 cup water to prevent sticking and burning. Add vegetables and mix well, then coconut milk. Raise heat to medium-low and bring to boil, lower heat to low; add shrimp and follow remainder of recipe.

Nutritional information unavailable.

PROCESSING FRESH CASSAVA ROOT

Some folks avoid cassava because it’s difficult to peel, highly perishable and takes time to cook. But Daniela Dutra Elliott says the right techniques make it approachable:

>> Start by washing soil off the exterior of the root. Cut off the woody ends. (If the entire flesh is woody or black, the root is inedible.)

>> To peel, start at one cut end and carefully make a slice through the thick skin, cutting deep enough to penetrate a layer of the root inside. Peel back using your fingers or, if necessary, the tip of the knife to pry it back for peeling. Continue by making another slice and peeling, working toward the other cut end to peel the entire root.

>> Process perishable cassava immediately by peeling, then cutting it into chunks. Keep them for later use by placing in a zip-top bag and freezing raw. Frozen cassava can keep several months.

>> Cooking cassava can take about 30 minutes when boiling in a pot. To speed up the process, use a pressure cooker: Place chunks in cooker pot and cover with water. Seal pot and bring to pressure, then lower heat and cook about 10 minutes. Quick- release pressure and test for doneness with a fork. It should be soft but not falling apart.

>> If mashing for bobo de camarao recipe, cool cassava first. Then, Elliott recommends using your hands. “It’s quick and easy,” she said. Ditto on incorporating the coconut milk.

SOURCES FOR CASSAVA

The key to finding fresh, local cassava is calling ahead. Local farmers grow the crop, but supply is not always consistent because of its short shelf life. If you do find fresh cassava at a farmers market, ask if you can call ahead of the next market day to place an order. A few supermarkets and ethnic markets occasionally also carry fresh, local product. Some ethnic markets sell frozen and imported cassava, dipped in wax for preservation. Here’s a shortlist to get you started.

Markets and more

>> Don Quijote: Frozen; Waipahu and Pearl City locations occasionally stock fresh cassava

>> Foodland: Foodland Farms Ala Moana will have fresh and local on shelves sometime this weekend or by Monday. Other locations may have fresh and local occasionally.

>> Tamashiro Market (802 N. King St., 841-8047): Frozen

>> Roots Cafe (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Kokua Kalihi Valley Wellness Center, 2229 N. School St., 791-9400): Fresh, local

>> Waimanalo Market Co-op (41-1029 Kalanianaole Highway, 690-7607): Fresh and local from various farmers

Ethnic markets

>> Mercado de la Raza (1315 S. Beretania St., 593-2226): Frozen

>> Seafood City Supermarket (Waipahu Town Center, 94-050 Farrington Highway, 675-2350): Frozen and imported fresh cassava, dipped in wax, from Peru

>> Pacific Market (Waipahu Shopping Plaza, 94-300 Farrington Highway in Waipahu, 678-2828): Frozen

>> CTH Import Produce (Waipahu Festival Marketplace: 94-340 Waipahu Depot Road, 676-1016): Fresh and local when available. (Visit other marketplace stands, where fresh cassava is available occasionally)

Farmers and open markets (Click here for a list of farmers markets throughout Oahu)

>> The Crop Shop (3 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays, the Towers at Kuhio Park, parking lot of Tower B, 841-7504): Fresh and local

>> FarmLovers Kakaako (8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Ward Gateway complex, 333 Ward Ave., by Ross Dress for Less): Fresh and local; Counter Culture farm and Ed’s Little Farm will have cassava on Saturday

>> Kalihi Valley People’s Open Market (10 to 10:45 a.m. Saturdays, Kalihi Valley District Park, 1911 Kamehameha IV Road): Fresh

>> FarmLovers Pearlridge (8 a.m. to noon Saturdays at new Pearlridge Uptown spot, upper parking lot along Moanalua Road; enter from Kaonohi Street or Moanalua Road): Fresh and local; Ed’s Little Farm and Sing Farm will have cassava on Saturday

>> Red Barn Farmstand (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, 66-320 Kamehameha Highway in Haleiwa): Fresh and local; Friends with Farms will have cassava for the next couple of Sundays

Is there a cooking technique you’d like explained? Email food editor Joleen Oshiro at joshiro@staradvertiser.com. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.