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Brazilian Cassava Foodways

Mandioca

Specialised

THE foundational Brazilian ingredient and an Indigenous technology of real sophistication. Two kinds: SWEET cassava — aipim, macaxeira, mandioca mansa, the name changing by region — eaten boiled or fried; and BITTER cassava, which contains cyanogenic glycosides and IS POISONOUS UNTIL PROCESSED, by grating, pressing in a tipiti, washing and heating. From that processing come FARINHA in dozens of regional grades, farinha d’água, TUCUPI from the pressed liquid, TAPIOCA and POLVILHO from the settled starch, beiju, pirão and tucupi’s black reduction. ⚠ THE DETOXIFICATION IS INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE, developed over millennia, and it is the reason this crop feeds a continent.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

Languages: Portuguese, Tupinambá

What is recorded

  • Bitter cassava contains cyanogenic glycosides and is toxic until processed by grating, pressing, washing and heating. That detoxification technology is an Indigenous South American achievement developed over millennia and is the basis of farinha, tucupi, tapioca and polvilho. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • originates from Brazilian Indigenous Foodways documented

    Cassava domestication and the detoxification of the bitter varieties are Indigenous South American achievements.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.