Meaning & use
yautia
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A tropical plant grown for its starchy underground stems, used as food in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Grammar: Countable for the plant or roots, uncountable as food: boiled yautia.
Patterns
- boiled/fried yautia
She boiled the yautia until it was soft.
The market sells yautia next to the yams.
Yautia is common in Puerto Rican stews.
nouncountable or uncountable
The root of this plant, eaten boiled, mashed or fried.
Grammar: Also sold under names like malanga or tannia.
Patterns
- a yautia root
He peeled a yautia and cut it into cubes.
Mashed yautia has a nutty, earthy taste.
Fried yautia fritters were served as a snack.
Word forms
| plural | yautias |
|---|
Common combinations
- boil yautia
- Boil the yautia for twenty minutes.
- mashed yautia
- She served mashed yautia with pork.
- yautia fritters
- Yautia fritters are crisp outside.
- peel yautia
- Wear gloves to peel yautia.
- yautia in a stew
- Yautia in a stew thickens the broth.
Synonyms and how they differ
- malanga
- Malanga is the common name in Cuba and Miami for the same kind of root.
- tannia
- Tannia is the usual English name, mainly in the Caribbean.
- cocoyam
- Cocoyam is the name used in West Africa for similar roots.
Word family
Commonly confused: yautia or yam? yautia or yuca?
yautia vs yam
A yam is a different, sweeter root, though yautia is often sold nearby.
yautia vs yuca
Yuca, or cassava, is another starchy root, but a different plant.
Practice
Which food is yautia?
Choose one answer.
Yautia is a starchy tropical root eaten boiled, mashed or fried. The other options describe a fruit, a green and a sauce.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “yautia”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.