The root of maranta or arrowroot in its English name, comes from the rhizome of a tropical plant from which its starch is extracted. It is a very effective type of starch as a thickener, colorless and practically tasteless.
It is highly digestive. It is used in all kinds of recipes where we want to thicken or even gelatinize a liquid. It appears as a very light white powder and once dissolved in liquid it is colorless. It is practically bland so we can use it in savory recipes but also to make sweet dishes such as jellies or creams. It solidifies at lower temperatures than other starches and, unlike cornstarch, it resists acids well. It is also a more advisable thickener if the sauce or soup that we are going to thicken with it is going to freeze (sauces thickened with cornstarch are cloudy if frozen). It is also used to make ice cream, due to its ability to prevent the formation of ice crystals.
