Starchy granules extracted from cassava root, used in cooking to make puddings and thicken liquids.
From Portuguese 'tapioca,' borrowed from Tupi (indigenous Brazilian language) 'tipi'oca' (residue/flour). It traveled from South America to Europe via Portuguese colonialism in the 16th-17th centuries.
Tapioca pearls traveled from Brazilian indigenous communities to Portuguese colonizers to world cuisine—they're literally a food that traveled the colonial trade routes, making every bubble tea a linguistic artifact of global history.
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