Casabe

Casabe or cassava bread is a flatbread made of cassava, eaten across the Caribbean Basin and the Amazon. It is usually made of bitter cassava, which is toxic before processing. Some cultures use mashed, fermented cassava, while others use cassava starch (tapioca), and additional ingredients may be used for flavor. The flatbread bakes for a few minutes on a flat surface known as a budare. Casabe is thin and crispy. When dried, it lasts several months. It may be eaten with various dishes or sweets. It is high in fiber and does not contain fat or gluten. Casabe may have originated in Caribbean South America thousands of years ago before spreading to the Antilles. It was eaten by the Taíno and other Pre-Columbian cultures, being useful for its portability. Spanish colonists encountered casabe in the 1490s and also considered it useful, despite disliking its taste. European explorers, soldiers, and buccaneers adopted casabe in the sixteenth century, and it was produced and traded at large scales. However, its consumption was limited to a small region, and Europeans preferred wheat bread. After a decline in popularity, casabe has seen a revival since the 1990s, in part due to its health value. Casabe was recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in a multinational listing inscribed in 2024. Casabe is consumed by many indigenous peoples of South America and is a staple food for some groups in the Amazon. It is common in Venezuelan cuisine, particularly in the eastern region and among Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelans, and has spread across the country. In Suriname, it is eaten by all ethnic groups. It has also spread across Cuba from the central and eastern regions. For the Garifuna people in Central America, casabe (known as ereba) is a culturally important dish. It is also eaten across the...