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Vincentian Arrowroot

Arrowroot

Agricultural region

⚠ SAINT VINCENT WAS THE WORLD’S ARROWROOT. Maranta arundinacea, an Indigenous South American and Caribbean domesticate whose name is generally derived from an Arawak word rather than from arrows, was grown and processed here on a scale that made the island the dominant global supplier for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The rhizomes are washed, grated, the starch washed out and settled, then dried to a very fine white powder. Uses: a thickener that sets clear and tolerates acid where flour does not; biscuits; porridge; puddings; and — the reason for the export trade — invalid and infant food, plus later industrial uses including carbonless paper and computer-paper coatings. ⚠ THE INDUSTRY DECLINED SHARPLY with cheaper substitutes, and the remaining production is small; the crop is central to Vincentian identity regardless.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

Languages: Vincentian Creole English

What is recorded

  • Saint Vincent was the dominant global producer of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The starch sets clear and tolerates acidity, and was traded for use in biscuits, puddings, invalid and infant foods, and later in industrial applications including carbonless and computer paper coatings. The English name is generally traced to an Arawak term rather than to arrows. Production declined substantially with the availability of cheaper substitutes. documented
  • Saint Vincent dominates world arrowroot production, exporting starch for biscuits, invalid foods and later industrial paper coatings. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Taíno Foodways probable

    Arrowroot is an Indigenous South American and Caribbean domesticate and its English name is generally traced to an Arawak word.

Recipes

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