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Arracacha
Arracacia xanthorrhiza · Root vegetable
40 pairings
Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), also called Peruvian carrot, white carrot, apio criollo or — in Brazil — mandioquinha and batata-baroa, is the starchy Andean storage root of a celery-family plant. Shaped like fat, short, off-white carrots, the roots have crisp flesh that may be white, cream-yellow or purple and a much-prized cooked flavour likened to a blend of celery, cabbage and roasted chestnuts.
Picking a good onedrag
Firm, taut, field-freshSlack and rotting
A day or two onStill the all-rounder: soup, purée, gnocchi, roasting — nothing is lost yet.Cook it now
SkinFirm, dry, field soil still on
Crown endBreak scar dried, corky
The pressFirm end to end, no give
SmellFaint and earthy, almost nothing
What to look for, from firm, taut, field-fresh to slack and rotting.
Keeping ittap a band
Chilling-sensitive: bare roots at 5 °C darken and rot by two weeks and take their worst cold damage by a month, while 10 °C brings only slight marks. The drawer is too cold.
Humidity
About 90%
In the cold the loss is water — firmness goes and the wilt shows once a root has shed more than 9% of its mass. Dry air gets it there faster.
Airflow
Wrapped close
Bare roots at 10 °C shed a third of their mass in two months; film-wrapped ones lost 3.5% and stayed unwilted. Handle gently — a drop bruise invites soft rot.