For many of the world's people, bread is an important part of their diet just like it has been for their ancestors. Bread can come in different shapes and forms and certain types, like European wheat loaves or Latin American tortillas, have crossed borders to become popular much further afield. The Caribbean has a flatbread known as casabe, which is made of cassava root and is fast becoming more popular in other parts of the world too.
Cassava is a plant native to South America and the Caribbean. The most important part of this plant is its root, which is made up of a starchy white or yellow flesh covered in rough brown skin. Cassava roots can grow up to almost twelve inches in length and with a diameter of between two and four inches.
The first people to have cultivated cassava may have done so about twelve thousand years ago in the western parts of modern-day Brazil. By the time the Spanish arrived in the Americas, the root was a staple food in the northern parts of South America, throughout Central America and also in the Caribbean. The Portuguese took this plant as well as another staple food from the region, maize, to Africa where these two foods soon became the two most important crops. Today cassava is known throughout the tropics and its production in Africa and Asia surpasses that in Latin America.
Cassava root is very starchy and a great source of carbohydrates. It's also rich in the minerals calcium and phosphorus and in Vitamin C. If you're watching your salt and fat intake, you'll be happy to know that the root contains only negligible amounts of both.
The original inhabitants of the Caribbean region, the Carib and Arawak people, used cassava to make a flatbread hundreds of years ago and their descendants still enjoy this staple to this day. If you can get your hands on some cassava root and want to try making your own bread, you should first peel the root and then grate it into a pulp. Next, press out all the liquid, which is poisonous.
If you want, you can now add salt to the pulp. Mix everything well. Then form flat patties of cassava pulp in a hot frying pan or in a special mold. You shouldn't add oil. Cook on both sides until golden. When the bread cools down, it hardens.
The flatbread is versatile and can be enjoyed in many ways. For example, sprinkle olive oil and slat over it or top it with eggs, avocado, beans or or whatever takes your fancy. Break it into smaller pieces and add these to soups for a little texture or use bits of the bread to scoop up dips. Some people even use the bread as a base for pizzas.
To find cassava root outside of the tropics is not that easy. However, you may try stores that specialize in Caribbean or African foods. It may be easier to simply buy ready-made casabe. This you can buy from specialty stores, especially ones that cater to Dominican, Jamaican or other Caribbean clientele. Alternatively, you now have a great excuse for a trip to the Caribbean.
Cassava is a plant native to South America and the Caribbean. The most important part of this plant is its root, which is made up of a starchy white or yellow flesh covered in rough brown skin. Cassava roots can grow up to almost twelve inches in length and with a diameter of between two and four inches.
The first people to have cultivated cassava may have done so about twelve thousand years ago in the western parts of modern-day Brazil. By the time the Spanish arrived in the Americas, the root was a staple food in the northern parts of South America, throughout Central America and also in the Caribbean. The Portuguese took this plant as well as another staple food from the region, maize, to Africa where these two foods soon became the two most important crops. Today cassava is known throughout the tropics and its production in Africa and Asia surpasses that in Latin America.
Cassava root is very starchy and a great source of carbohydrates. It's also rich in the minerals calcium and phosphorus and in Vitamin C. If you're watching your salt and fat intake, you'll be happy to know that the root contains only negligible amounts of both.
The original inhabitants of the Caribbean region, the Carib and Arawak people, used cassava to make a flatbread hundreds of years ago and their descendants still enjoy this staple to this day. If you can get your hands on some cassava root and want to try making your own bread, you should first peel the root and then grate it into a pulp. Next, press out all the liquid, which is poisonous.
If you want, you can now add salt to the pulp. Mix everything well. Then form flat patties of cassava pulp in a hot frying pan or in a special mold. You shouldn't add oil. Cook on both sides until golden. When the bread cools down, it hardens.
The flatbread is versatile and can be enjoyed in many ways. For example, sprinkle olive oil and slat over it or top it with eggs, avocado, beans or or whatever takes your fancy. Break it into smaller pieces and add these to soups for a little texture or use bits of the bread to scoop up dips. Some people even use the bread as a base for pizzas.
To find cassava root outside of the tropics is not that easy. However, you may try stores that specialize in Caribbean or African foods. It may be easier to simply buy ready-made casabe. This you can buy from specialty stores, especially ones that cater to Dominican, Jamaican or other Caribbean clientele. Alternatively, you now have a great excuse for a trip to the Caribbean.
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