Ruth - The yuca at the Cuban restaurant was undoubtedly cassava- you can
find a simple recipe at
http://www.francieweb.com/cuban/yuca.html
It seems that everyone who actually eats cassava calls it yuca, while we
bewildered northerners call it cassava, and confuse yuca with yucca. Latin
botanical names have their uses.
There are recipes for yucca, the funky spiky ornamental, from native
American sources. I haven't tried anything with that plant. I'm guess I'm
put off by eating something that takes so long to grow a sizable tuber,
while cassava is a field crop.
We love Cuban food, too, but I'm just now trying to cook some of it.
Plantains often land in the quick sale rack because people don't know what
to do with them - maybe yuca will be next.
Have fun with yuca! Anne