DESCRIPTION
Product: Arrowroot
Latin Name: Manihot Utilissima
Plant Family: Marantaceae
Other Names: Arrow-Root, West Indian Arrowroot, Obedience Plant, Bermuda Arrowroot, Araru, Ararao, Hulankeeriya, Arrurruz, Dictame, Herbe aux Flèches, Maranta Starch & Marante.
Description: Our powdered Arrowroot is a popular culinary ingredient and store cupboard item used for making biscuits, puddings, jellies, cakes and pastries and for thickening sauces, soups and gravies, which is gluten free. It’s made from the starch produced in the roots of a perennial plant native to South America which grows to approximately 65cm in height. The leaves are alternate, ovate-lanceolate, slightly hairy underneath, and mid-green in colour. The flowers are white, and present in terminal panicles. The short fleshy roots are yellowish-white in colour, gnarly and have loose scales and are approximately 20mm in diameter.
SUGGESTED USE
Arrowroot can be used as a thickening agent for sauces, soups and gravies, during the 18th and 19th centuries it was used to make ‘invalid foods’ such as ‘beef tea’ and ‘veal tea’, its used to make arrowroot biscuits which were eaten by people with unsettled stomachs. It can be used to prevent ice crystals forming in homemade ice-cream and will not make fruit gel glazes go cloudy like cornflour will, use to thicken sauces such as sweet n sour sauce and plum sauce. Note that arrowroot thickens at much lower temperatures than those needed by cornflour and has a better flavour, but it is not a good thickener for use with dairy products, mix first with cool liquid such as water before introducing to hot liquids and stir constantly until well blended. Remove from heat as soon as the desired constituency is achieved, over heating will cause the arrowroot to break down and result in a runny sauce. Use 2 teaspoons of arrowroot in a recipe for every 1 tablespoon of cornflour it calls for.
SHELF LIFE
Shelf life of two years provided that goods are stored in an airtight container in ambient conditions.
