Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca pudding was a treat that we had only once a month or so when I was growing up. The entire family loved the stuff, so I don’t know why we didn’t have it more often. My guess is that tapioca was expensive, so we had to make do with milk puddings like blancmange or baked custards, fruit cobblers, pies, cakes and cookies. A limited range of desserts, you might say, but we survived. Still, I would have liked more tapioca.

As I recall my mother’s tapioca pudding looked like it had small marbles in it. They reminded me of the rubbery jello on the sides of the bowl, and I loved chewing them in my mouth as I ate my bowl of pudding. These small marbles are called “large pearl” tapioca.

I don’t know if that was the only kind of tapioca sold in the grocery stores where Mom shopped, but today “small pearl” tapioca is what is usually available. Here’s how to make this light and delicious pudding.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup pearl tapioca
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of cream of thartar

PROCEDURE:

The night before or at least six hours before making the pudding, put two cups of water and the tapioca to soak in a medium-sized bowl.

When you are ready to make the pudding, put the milk into a double boiler over high heat and drain the tapioca. When the milk is warm, stir in the salt and tapioca and continue to heat until the milk begins to steam. Reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan, stirring occasionally, for about an hour. Be sure not to boil the mixture.

While the pudding is cooking, allow two large eggs to come to room temperature. Separate them and beat the yolks until they are lemon colored. Add most of the sugar to the egg yolks, reserving one or two tablespoons to beat into the whites. Beat the yolks and sugar into a smooth batter.

Take the double boiler from the heat while you beat in about a half cup of the hot mixture into the eggs yolks, a tablespoon at a time. Beat the eggs briskly with a fork or small whisk while you dribble in the hot liquid to keep from curdling the eggs. Now beat the eggs into the hot mixture and return the double boiler to medium heat. Stir constantly until the pudding once again begins to steam and continue cooking until the pudding is very thick.

Add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until they form soft peaks. Now add the reserved sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. The whites will glisten like meringue.

Take the pudding from the double boiler and allow it to cool for a minute or so, then fold in the beaten egg whites. Gently stir in the vanilla. Return the pudding to the double boiler over moderate heat and cook for two or three minutes.

Serve it warm or cold.

NOTES: Tapioca is made from the root of the cassava plant, which is native to Brazil. The root contains a poison which needs to be removed before the starchy part is edible. The indigenous people of the South America had learned how to do this long before European explorers reached South America.

By grinding up the root and squeezing out the juice they leached away the poison. They then dried the pulp to make a starchy powder that was an excellent food that could be made into bread immediately or stored for use as needed.

Today tapioca is used for many different dishes around the world from main courses like meat stews to snacks, sandwiches and a wide variety of desserts. Though I have never tasted it, bubble tea is a recent addition to tapioca recipes. It is basically a sweet tea with large pearl tapioca floating in it that you nibble on as you drink your tea.

You can buy large pearl tapioca at some stores or from online vendors. One of these days I am going to make a tapioca pudding just like Mom used to make, so I can chew on those rubbery pearls. You might want to try it too.

Jerri’s Green Pea Salad

Lady Plumberton and her husband were on a voyage to the United States when she suffered an attack of nausea. Accordingly, she visited the ship’s physician who suggested that it was probably a mild attack of seasickness and gave her some tablets to soothe her stomach.

As she was leaving, she mentioned that she was rarely ill and suffered only from an allergy to green peas. It had been discovered when she was only a child, she told him, and she had often wished that God had given her a different allergy, since she loved the appearance and fragrance of lightly steamed peas.

The doctor, who had only a few years earlier finished medical school, told her that recent studies had confirmed that people sometimes outgrew such childhood allergies. Tests had been developed to detect allergic reactions safely, and he could test whether she was still allergic to peas in his office in less than half an hour.

She agreed and he called the chief cook who sent a steward with a small bowl of freshly steamed peas to the doctor’s office. Thirty minutes later, the doctor announced that the skin prick test showed no allergic reaction. Since the test sometimes missed a mild allergy, he suggested that she begin slowly with only a very small serving of green peas if she were so inclined.

After lunch she explained to the head waiter that she would appreciate having a small dish of steamed green peas with her dinner. He informed the chief cook who added the vegetable to Lady Plumberton’s dinner.

As usual the Plumberton’s were seated at the captain’s table. When all the diners were seated and the plates served, he rose from his chair to offer the evening’s toast. Instead of the usual toast honoring the leaders of Great Britain and the United States, he raised his glass of champagne and said, “Let us drink tonight to Lady Plumberton, who with the professional help of our ship’s doctor, is tonight taking her first pea in over fifty years.”

As the glasses were raised, a grizzled retired navy officer shouted, “Good God! Man the lifeboats! Women and children first!”

Only Lady Plumberton left the dining room. She retired to her cabin and developed a strong aversion to old men in navy uniforms.

Many green pea salad recipes call for using frozen or lightly steamed fresh green peas instead of canned peas. Perhaps this is because a lot of people have developed an aversion to canned peas. When I was a kid, we grew a lot of peas, picked a lot of peas, Mom canned a lot of peas and we all ate a lot of canned peas. I still really like them, especially in this delicious pea salad.

Jerri can’t remember when she first made this salad. My guess is that it was shortly after we were married and living in Charlottesville, Virginia. There was a Safeway store nearby that always had canned peas at low prices.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can green peas (about 2 cups)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chopped Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1/4 cup minced onion
1/3 cup mayonnaise

PROCEDURE:

Drain the peas and put them in a mixing bowl. Boil the eggs for five minutes, turn off the heat and allow them to finish cooking in the hot water for eight or nine minutes. Then cool them in cold water and remove the shells. Chop the eggs to the same size dice as the peas.

While the eggs are cooking, clean the celery and chop it and the cheese into the same size dice as the eggs. Mince the onion. Put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir them gently but thoroughly. Allow the salad to rest for five minutes, then stir again and taste.

Add a bit more mayonnaise if necessary or even a little salt.

NOTES: Jerri prefers fresh or frozen green peas cooked until barely tender except in her green pea salad where she loves the taste of canned peas. Even if you also prefer fresh or frozen peas, you really need to try this salad.

You can substitute finely chopped sweet or bread and butter pickles for the pickle relish.