My wife made the mistake of asking me the other night if I knew exactly what tapioca is. She had no idea. I know I like it. I rate it a 7 out of 10 on the “yummy” scale.

Yes, curiosity killed the cat, but it also forced me to find the real story behind the tapioca pudding. What I found out may be interesting to you, but it’s not what Hollywood movies are made of. Or at least not good Hollywood movies.

Tapioca is a flavorless, starchy ingredient produced from the cassava root which is native to South America. The white balls are the result of root processing. They are not seeds. The cassava plant is used in a variety of different cuisines around the world.

Now that we have figured out what tapioca is, we can fully understand tapioca pudding. It is simple. Tapioca pudding is quite often and commonly a mix of tapioca, of course, as well as milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

There are a couple of other interesting little facts.

The cassava plant produces cyanide. If you don’t process the plant, it could kill you. If only I had a nickel for every time I heard “dude, this is killer tapioca.”

Also some researchers are convinced that the cassava plant can be used to kill cancer cells.

July 15 is National Tapioca Pudding Day. Whatever you do, don’t tell my wife. I didn’t get him anything. Not even a card. National Tapioca Pudding Day was the focus of a television episode of “Garfield & Friends.”

And finally a little story that might make you laugh. In 1972, off Wales, a Swiss freighter called the Cassarate was nearly sunk by tapioca. The ship was apparently carrying 1,500 tons of tapioca when she caught fire. The heat from the fire combined with the water used to extinguish it essentially began to cook the tapioca. This process caused the tapioca to expand. The ships’ armor was almost to the point of buckling. Eventually the fire was extinguished and the ship managed to limp to its destination.

Hundreds of hungry Welshmen were disappointed as they had been waiting for the explosion with bowls and spoons in hand.

Yes, I may have sensationalized the story a bit with that last sentence. My apologies.

That was good, wasn’t it? Bet you can’t wait for my haggis story.