Well, I promised an exclusive on Yuca, so here it is! It is so fun to learn about different types food in other countries!
We got a tour of the farm our friends own. They live in a really tropical part of Costa Rica and the Yuca just thrives here! We toured around the farm and learned so much about how they plant and harvest Yuca.
Yuca (YOU-ka) is not the yucca (YA-ka) that we are familiar with.
What is Yuca?
Yuca (also known as Cassava) is a long root that grows from a small skinny tree. It is a major staple in Latin American cultures because it is a very starchy vegetable and thrives in tropical regions.
Starch means carbs, so this is a very filling type of vegetable.
In Costa Rica particularly, Yuca is a big staple (well besides rice) because it is much cheaper than the potato. 
We had never heard or seen of Yuca before coming to Costa Rica. But I think we have been properly introduced now that we have been here a while. This is after all, the Costa Rican potato!
The Yuca is planted by placing a stick or twig of a tree that has already been harvested. The twig will spring up a new tree.
The new trees are planted at the same time they harvest, saving lots of time! The Yuca is a one time harvest. It takes 9 months for the roots to fully grow and be ready for cosecha, harvest. 
The tree trunks sort of resemble bamboo but a skinnier version!
Once the trees are ready for harvest, the tops of the trees get cut down.
Then the farmers go back and pull up all the roots. Our friend here makes it look easy but some of those roots are long and really hard to pull up!
Luckily it rains a lot so the ground is nice and soft!
The Yuca looks like, well, a root! I guess if we didn’t know what it was, we would mistake it for a piece of wood!
The inside of the Yuca is bright white and this is the part gets eaten. The yuca gets cleaned up, peeled, and cooked.
This whole pile of yuca came from just one tree! It is a very productive crop! It is also really cheap. We have seen Yuca in the store for about 260 colones per kilo. That is about $0.25 per pound.
We brought some Yuca home this weekend from our trip to the Yuca farm so keep an eye our for some Yuca recipes this next week!
