The vegetable
Cassava, also known as gucca and manioc, is a tropical root vegetable. Each plant grows several roots and each root has a hard brown skin. The skin is peeled off and the inside part is eaten. It can be picked 8 months to 3 years after planting. The roots get bigger with age and can weigh up to 30lb but the centre of each root becomes woody and inedible over a long time. Above the ground, the cassava is a shrub with tall brittle stems 6 to 8 feet high, green flowers and large leaves like palms. It is perennial and can be planted at any time and grown all year round.

Cassava is grown in Central and South America, Asia and Africa, where it is a staple food. A fresh cassava root contains 30% starch. Like a potato, it can be roasted, boiled, fried and mashed, making crisps, chips, bread, pasta and tapioca. It can also make alcohol and a food seasoning called cassareep. Cassava starch can even be used as a binding agent in the production of paper, adhesives and textiles, and also monosodium glutamate (MSG), a food flavouring.

The squeezer
Without the squeezer to remove the poison, the bitter cassava is literally lethal, so the cassava squeezer is used wherever cassava is grown. In Trinidad, for example, where the cassava is a staple food, its importance is shown by the fact that the squeezer is featured in the logo of the Caribbean community. The Creole word 'koulev' meaning snake is another name given to the cassava squeezer because the diamond-shaped basket weave looks like a snakeskin pattern. It requires specialised knowledge of weaving techniques to make the squeezer - weaving is a valued craft in the Caribbean.

Cassava is not grown in Britain but it can be found in specialist food shops, especially in areas that have an African, South American or Caribbean community.

In Amazon by the traveller Bruce Parry, 2009 he writes about his experience of seeing manioc/cassava being prepared:
 
"Jarauar Manuel, who like Dona Lourdes is also a leader in this community showed me how he peels and washes the manioc, a common staple food of this area. First the root is peeled and then kept submerged in water for a few days in a canoe at the side of their lake. Once softened, the tubers are mashed and drained of their toxic cyanide by squeezing. Next the pulp is sieved and toasted on a huge griddle. A canoe paddle is used to stir and throw the tapioca up in the air so it all gets evenly cooked. The end product, called farina, is crunchy and granular, and is served with almost every meal.”

This object saves lives! Cassava is a vegetable and a staple food in Central and South America, Asia and Africa, but one of the two varieties, bitter cassava, contains deadly poisonous prussic acid. So great care must be taken to get rid of the acid before eating. This is done by removing the cassava’s hard skin, grating and washing the peeled vegetable, and squeezing out the liquid. The cassava squeezer strains out the dangerous liquid so that the cassava is safe to eat.

These cassava squeezers are from South America. The top one is 81 cm long and the bottom one is 112 cm long. They are made from straw, which has been woven to make a pattern. Skilled weavers make the squeezers.

They have a handle at either end – one end is open and the other is tied tightly with a piece of straw. Grated cassava is put into the open end of the squeezer until it is almost full; the bottom one here shows how the squeezer looks when it is stuffed full. The squeezer can be used in two ways to strain the liquid:

1. The user lifts the squeezer and pulls the handles apart. This action squeezes the cassava so that the liquid drains out of the gaps in the woven straw while the grated cassava remains inside. This action is repeated until all the liquid has drained out of the cassava.
2. The squeezer is hung up by one loop and a weight attached to the bottom of the other loop, so that the squeezer becomes narrower and longer. The juice is squeezed from the grated cassava and drains into a bowl underneath.