Tapping back into tapioca

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Posted at 12:22PM, 14 August 2008 by Karyn Miller - Journalist

Tapioca pudding is the worst school dinner of all time, according to a BBC Good Food survey carried out in 2003. Nicknamed 'frogspawn', it topped the magazine's poll. Former pupils of a certain age and above still grimace at the very mention of this dreaded dish.

I chanced upon tapioca in the supermarket last week and I couldn't resist buying some. I only spotted it because it was surrounded by colourful "special offer" signs. Really, it was the ridiculously low price that swayed me: a box of the stuff costs just six pence and makes 32 portions of pudding.

Awful school dinners may have clouded our memories - but with food prices rising and household budgets strained, is tapioca set for a comeback?

It was the ridiculously low price that swayed me. A box of the stuff costs just six pence and makes 32 portions of pudding.

In other countries this starchy ingredient, made from the roots of the cassava plant, is consumed with gusto. In Brazil there are even tapiocaria restaurants, which specialise in tapioca-based dishes. Thomas Keller, acclaimed as one of the world's top chefs, is also a fan. At his French Laundry restaurant in California, he serves up tapioca with oysters and calls it 'Oysters and Pearls'. It is one of his signature dishes.

Closer to home, the trusty Oxford Companion to Food notes with sadness that tapioca pudding and its like are "sometimes despised by the ignorant, that is to say persons who have no knowledge of how good they are when properly made".

Back in the kitchen, I decided to give the pudding my best shot. The box showed a bowl of off-white mush, decorated with summer fruits and amaretti. It was captioned, "A Delicious Low Fat Food". The mush vaguely resembled rice pudding; the recipes for both dishes are broadly similar, and splendidly simple.

Anxious to avoid a spartan 'school dinner', I followed a version of Mrs Beeton's recipe. I heated the tapioca and milk in a saucepan, stirring continuously. After the mixture had simmered for a quarter of an hour, I stirred in caster sugar, a little vanilla, butter and an egg, and baked the pudding in the oven for half an hour.

"It smells like rice pud!", said my husband hopefully, when I brought our bowls to the table. Then he dived in with his spoon, and his face fell.

Sadly, our tapioca pudding tasted nothing like rice pudding. Despite the additional ingredients, it had all the texture and taste of wallpaper paste. The tapioca pearls, soft and gelatinous, glinted in the lamplight. Not even hefty spoonfuls of Tiptree Jam could make our puddings palatable. We failed to clear our bowls - a rare occurrence, in this household. I fear that my 'bargain buy' is now destined to languish at the back of the store cupboard, gathering dust.

So where did I go wrong? Is it really possible to make a good tapioca pudding? Or is this dish well and truly beyond redemption?

Comments

Em

14 August 2008, 1:17PM
Em

Am I right in thinking that tapioca flour can be used in cakes to keep them moist? I've never tried it myself but it might be a way to use up some of your excess tapioca!

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shez

14 August 2008, 6:29PM
shez

Put it away in case we ever have to go on rations and am sure it will be eaten with relish once again!!!

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sue

16 August 2008, 3:17PM
sue

does anyone have a recipe for macaroni pudding?

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moira

17 August 2008, 10:29AM
moira

tapioca reminds me of school dinners , some kind soul had provided jam , it was the only way I could eat it !!!!! bought a packet the other day - to see if my taste had changed over the years ---- and guess what ? it hadn't - out came the jam!!!!!

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Gayns

17 August 2008, 8:19PM
Gayns

I must be a minority here as I love tapioca but not nearly as much as I love semolina!! You could try adding cocoa powder as chocolate flavour is even better!

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Nikki

18 August 2008, 2:03PM
Nikki

I love tapioca and semolina with loads of freshly grated nutmeg. Its also nice made with orange zest. Ooh I'm off to buy some right now!

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Mrs. Mason-Brown

18 August 2008, 6:57PM
Mrs. Mason-Brown

i think the problem here may be the eggs and the baking. Tapioca should be a little soft and giggly. Another wonderful, lesser known desert is fish-eye tapioca (I know, could it sound less appetizing?) It is sold in Chinese supermarkets. First, it's soaked in water to swell the little bubbles of tapioca and the cooked in milk and vanilla. Really good, with a lot more texture than the regular blobby stuff we're all used to. My mother also uses the regular tapioca in her fruit mix for pies and crisp. It thickens up while cooking without making it taste floury or too think. Lovely stuff, tapioca!

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Jenni

20 August 2008, 7:39AM
Jenni

Tapioca is terrific, as is sago. I agree the problem is with your recipe (it doesn't need boiling, then baking) but perhaps also your approach? It won't taste like rice because it isn't rice, and the frogspawn texture is a big part of it's appeal. Maybe try an Asian recipe next time.

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jean

20 August 2008, 7:26PM
jean

I too adore tapioca pudding , in fact I enjoy all the " milk , nursery puddings'. My only problem is being unable to buy tapioca anywhere. Even good old pudding rice is only available in small packets . Roll on winter ( !!! ) when I can justify making thick , creamy puds .

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tracy

21 August 2008, 11:49AM
tracy

Like you I found my tapioca with the surrounding array of special offer stickers and thought what the heck I haven't made it in years! so on sunday I headed to the kitchen-and all but my little sister (who's 12)-everyone loved the trip down memory lane.I never had to suffer school dinners as I was in the packed lunch brigade (which I might add,came with it's own set of nightmare memories!) I tried to follow the recipe on the pack but found it did need the addition of some double cream and extra sugar and milk-I cooked mine in the slow cooker and it was delicious.(I love a good rice pud too with lots of fresh grated nutmeg)

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catn

22 August 2008, 5:43AM
catn

I too love it! I havent had it in a while but remember my mum making it when I was a child. A few years ago I lived with a vegan punk girl who made the BEST tapioca simply by boiling it in soy milk with sugar and a pinch of salt and then serving it with ridiculous amounts of sugar and cinnamon - and preserved fruits like quinces and plums. Who would have thought that tapioca would become retro-hip, but it certainly did in our world!!

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bungle1977

8 September 2008, 5:24PM
bungle1977

OK ok! Where do i get TAPIOCA from in the UK, i live near Bournemouth (down south). I used to love my Mummy's pud's, been looking for "frogspawn" and can't find anywhere. Someone help pleaseeeeeee....................

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Victoria

26 May 2009, 9:39PM
Victoria

I must be another in the minority, but I also like Tapioca, but not as much as Semolina. My Dad's Diabetic, so my Mum makes Semolina or Tapioca Pudding with hardly any Sugar as a nice, filling Pud! I love it! (Bungle1977, you should be able to buy Tapioca in any (large) Supermarket, I think my Mum got it in Tesco!

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ecbfriedman

13 April, 3:26PM
ecbfriedman

I love tapioca pudding, done the way my mom makes it... but I'm an American and can't find the same stuff here (Minute tapioca). The recipe involves 2 3/4 cups of milk (whole is best), one egg, 3 tablespoons tapioca, 1/3 C sugar, and vanilla at the end. It's made on the stovetop - soak the tapioca in milk for 5 minutes, then add the sugar and egg, stirring continuously, and bring to a full boil. Add 1 tsp vanilla at the end, and let stand 20 min to cool. Seriously, this stuff is yummy comfort food... but the soaking may have to be adjusted for different kinds of tapioca. It should have texture but not be in the least bit gritty.

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