Tropical Joe: My Moniker and My Tropical Cooking

It's my innovation with a popular snack (merienda) in my region (Bicol, Philippines).I will call it Tropical Cake, a more trending name in international scene. It is locally known as Linubak in our dialect. It consists of one or two ingredients (Banana-Sabah variety plus Kamoteng Kahoy or Tapioca Plant.

Situationer: Root crops are very expensive nowadays since the series of flooding that a-washed the vegetable crops of farmers at the lowlands of the country this year. 
You can buy ube for P69-70 per kilo, kamoteng kahoy P15.00 per kilo, sweet camote for P30 per kilo, taro (bungkukan) for P30.00 per kilo and banana (sabah) this size (medium @ P1.50 per piece). All in all, I spent almost P100.00 or USD 3.00 only.

Nutritional contents: 

1. Cassava or tapioca is a good source of carbohydrates. It has folic acid (B9), iron, calcium and omega-3. 
2. Sweet Potato or camote is rich in Vitamin A, beta carotene, sodium and carbohydrates.
3. Taro is rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, Vitamin C and iron.
4. Ube is an excellent source of potassium, thiamine, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C aside from its carbohydrate content.
5. Ripe Jackfruit has the following major contents: potassium, phosporus, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. 

Ingredients:

1/2 kilogram (kg) ube or purple yam, cleaned 

1/2 kg sweet potato or camote, cleaned

1/2 kg cassava(kamoteng kahoy), cleaned 

3 pieces banana (Sabah variety)

5 pieces jackfruit cloves, ripe and seeded

1/2 kg. brown sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup pure coconut milk

pinch of salt (preferably gourmet or rock salt)

ground peanuts 

Glimpses on how my Tropical Cake was made

 Tips: Grate first the cooked root crops before mashing it. Mix with sugar to sweeten, along with part of coconut milk and margarine.

 Procedure:

1. In a medium-size pan, put the first  4 ingredients and boil it until done. Add a pinch of salt.
2. When cooled, mash the cassava first as the bottom layer of the Tropical Cake.Mix sugar and margarine on it, then, flatten it on a round plate.
3. Repeat the procedure with sweet potato (for second layer), taro (for third layer) and ube(for top layer).
4. Brush the top of the cake with margarine, then, sprinkle it with ground peanuts.
5. Layer the banana slices alternately with the ripe jackfruit slices.
6. Refrigerate. It will serve 10 persons.

A slice of Tropical Cake with a compliment of steaming coffee (the barako type of  the Philippines) is a delightful afternoon snacks.

Bon Apetit!!!