Christine’s comforting ‘frogspawn’

With this recipe I felt like I have unearthed a treasure. It was passed on to me by Christine, an elderly lady that used to do lots of cooking even for 30 or so years ago. She would have three soups simmering at a time to feed her hungry family.

I later found out that tapioca, which is a pure starch extracted from a Cassava root, was much more popular in the past. You could buy it in every corner shop, according to Christine. Tapioca pudding or so-called ‘frogspawn’ used to be a British school lunch classic. It wasn’t particularly loved, but it is still vividly remembered amongst older generations. Despite the name it has nothing to do with frogs or toads, or other creatures. Just a lovely (in my opinion) comforting thing with little translucent perls that stare at you from your a plate like an army of frogspawns in the pond. They are soft and chewy and taste a lot like a rice pudding, just the texture is more bubbly.

Tapioca pudding is very simple to make and has very few ingredients.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of tapioca
1 1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 cup of milk (I used almond milk)
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
a pinch of grated nutmeg

Method

1. Mix tapioca with water, milk, salt and sugar in a pot. Let it simmer for 30 minutes (check to see if tapioca perls are soft)
2. When it’s cooked grate a bit of nutmeg on top.
3. Enjoy!!!