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Cassareep and Cassava

Cassareep

Specialised

BITTER CASSAVA grated, pressed in a MATAPEE — the long woven basketry tube that squeezes as it is stretched — and the expressed juice boiled down long and hard with spice until it is a black, thick, faintly bitter syrup. ⚠ THE BOILING IS WHAT MAKES IT SAFE: raw cassava juice is poisonous and prolonged boiling drives off the cyanogenic compounds, leaving a preservative. From the same plant: CASSAVA BREAD, the flat baked disc; FARINE, the toasted meal; and PIWARI/parakari, the fermented cassava drink of Indigenous communities. ⚠ THE ENTIRE COMPLEX IS AMERINDIAN TECHNOLOGY, and it is described here, not given as a method.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Makushi community documented
  • Wapishana community documented
  • Lokono community documented

Languages: Macushi, Wapishana, Lokono, Waiwai

What is recorded

  • Cassareep is produced by pressing bitter cassava in a matapee and boiling the expressed juice at length with spices. Raw cassava juice contains cyanogenic compounds and is toxic; prolonged boiling drives them off. The process is Amerindian technology and is described here rather than reproduced as a method. Its keeping properties are not a substitute for refrigeration under modern conditions. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Casabe and Fariña documented
  • related to Casabe and Mañoco documented

    One Guiana Shield bitter-cassava technology; cassareep is the Guyanese product the others do not make.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.