Tapioca is a starchy, slightly chewy food made from the cassava plant, a tropical root vegetable that grows in warm climates around the world. You've probably seen tapioca as small, translucent pearls in bubble tea or as pudding with tiny, squishy beads.

The cassava root itself looks like a long, brown sweet potato. To make tapioca, the root is processed into a powder or formed into those familiar pearls. When cooked, tapioca pearls become soft and bouncy with a mild, slightly sweet taste. They don't have much flavor on their own, so they take on the taste of whatever they're cooked with, whether that's sweet milk in pudding or flavored syrup in bubble tea.

Tapioca became popular worldwide because cassava is easy to grow and provides a lot of energy. In many tropical countries, cassava is a staple food, meaning people eat it regularly as a main source of calories, similar to how potatoes or rice are eaten in other places. The plant is remarkably tough and can grow in poor soil where other crops might fail, making it an important food source for millions of people.