Cassava Nightmare Before Christmas

An American woman’s catastrophic attempt to make a vegetarian variation on her Bermudian grandmother’s cassava pie recipe (pictured at left) convinced her to go back to what she makes best — restaurant reservations.

Lorelei Logsdon, an editor, technical writer and East Carolina University graduate student, said her childhood Christmas memories were largely dominated by food — particularly the savoury smell and taste of her mother’s cassava pie, baked according to an old Bermuda family recipe.

“When I was little, going back to school after winter break meant telling all your friends what you got for Christmas. Most kids had a new coat, or a new bike, or maybe some ice skates,” said Mrs. Logsdon. “The kids would ask me what I got for Christmas and I’d say, ‘Chocolate chip squares, broccoli casserole, and cassava pie!’ Of course I got presents too, but I’d often forget what they were by the time January arrived. The holiday food, however, was always fresh in my mind.”

Mrs. Logsdon said with mixed Swedish/Bermudian family heritage — and being vegeterians to boot –the fare prepared for Christmas gatherings was “eclectic, to say the least.”

Now a wife and mother herself, when she chanced upon her grandmother’s cassava pie recipe — and attempted to recreate it — the results turned her dream of reproducing one of her fondest childhood memories into a nightmare.

She’s written  about her disastrous experiment in Bermuda Christmas cuisine in an article entitled “A Failed Attempt at Re-creating Grandma’s Recipe: Cassava Pie” posted at the Yahoo! Contributors Network.

#BermudianCulture #Christmas #Cuisine

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