I recently learned the hard way about the dangers of preparing yucca/cassava root. I had been asked by a local Costa Rican chef to help him prepare food for a dinner party he was hosting. I happily busied myself with peeling slicing and dicing all manner of vegetables. Everything was perfectly fine until I came to peeling two large yucca roots. This was the first time I had ever prepared them. I had no idea what was about to happen.

Just a minute into peeling the first root I started to feel a tingling sensation in my fingers that quickly progressed into a burning sensation. I was still only half way through peeling the first of the two roots. I paused wondering what could be causing the burning sensation. I looked at the fingers of my left hand that held the yucca root and they appeared to be coated in a grayish stain. The skin was feeling strangely tight and had a feeling somewhat like if you get superglue on your skin, taught and feeling less to ones touch. The burning sensation was increasing. I went to the tap and washed my hands but this did nothing to ease the sensation.
Being the stoic fool that I am I continued peeling the root, wanting to get finished quickly thinking that maybe I had just had my hands in water too many times that day and that they were over sensitive to nothing in particular. I finished peeling the two roots by now my hands were both super coated in the grayish substance and no amount of washing them was helping.
My next task was to peel and dice ten heads of garlic. As I began the juice from the garlic just increased the burning sensation even more to the point I thought I would not be able to bear it any longer. I rushed through my task as fast as was possible, trying to contain the pain I was feeling. At last the garlic was finished and I ran my hands once more under the tap, for although it had little effect the coolness of the water was in some small way easing the intense pain I was in.
All my fingers by now were a brownish gray and seething with this burning pain.
At this point I had not made any connection with the root I had been preparing and the burning. I was just intent on finishing my chores and making sure everything went as planned and the evening was a success for the guests. I endured for the five hours I was working and it wasn’t until I got home around midnight and googled yucca root that it transpired what had caused this.
Yucca root has cyanide in the skin layer! I read how GLOVES SHOULD BE WORN and EXTREME CARE TAKEN in its preparation. It is only in the skin, the root itself is completely safe to eat obviously.
I could not believe my chef friend had failed to mention this to me. I messaged him and queried it. He said “Really? That never happened to me preparing it or I would have thought to say something.”
I asked my American girlfriend who has lived here in Costa Rica for some years the following day if she knew of this and she said she had never experienced discomfort in peeling it either.

So I guess I must have more sensitive skin than some people but the fact remains the cyanide is there in the skin and I believe everyone should be aware of this if not already. This meek looking vegetable root sits on supermarket shelves next to the usual harmless carrots and potatoes with no warning whatsoever which I find quite extraordinary.

For the following three days my fingers were so damaged I could not touch anything even slightly warm without extreme pain and then skin proceeded to peel off all my fingers. It is now two weeks since this happened and still two of my fingers are badly peeling. I lost the fingerprints on two fingers completely and they are just now starting to reappear.

Please take care if you ever try using this root yourself. I shall avoid it myself. It was my first and it will be my last time of working with it.

This is far removed from my usual pleasant jungle photography blogs so for all of my followers who have diligently read through these long paragraphs here are a few photos for you to leave you with a better feeling than the image of my cyanide burned fingers has probably created.

Namaste

Our lives become beautiful not because we are perfect but because we put our heart into what we do.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev