What are staple foods that you couldn’t do without? Rice? Potatoes? Salt? Sugar? Milk? For Brazilians, especially those with tribal heritage from the Manaus Amazonia region, Mandioca Flour made from Cassava adds flavor and texture to every meal. Mandioca sounds to our ears like, “man-ee-oc”.
Mandioca Flour is expensive and time consuming to make; nevertheless, it can be found in a small bowl on every Brazilian’s table.
In Brazil there are two types of Cassava. A sweeter, non-poisonous cassava tuber that can simply be cut and fried. But there is also a poisonous variety that must be extensively processed before it will produce the coveted Mandioca Flour.
We had the opportunity to see two Mandioca operations. The first was described by our Tucano cruise guides, Souza and Edivam, during an excursion to visit a local family living along the shores of Lago du Ubim (Lake). The second was described by our Amazon EcoPark guide, Moses, in a “made-for-tourists” demonstration area. Our description and pictures of Mandioca production below are a combination of both of these lessons.
One of the reasons that Mandioca is so expensive is that it takes 9 months for the cassava tubers to develop. When harvested, parts of the tree can be cut, stacked, and replanted for the next growing season. It is a labor intensive process. To complicate matters, the Amazon and Rio Negro rivers can easily flood the forests and agricultural land adjacent to family property. Tubers must be quickly dug up before the river rises during the rainy season, or they will rot in the ground.
Once harvested, the cassava tuber exterior is scraped away, leaving the raw tuber. Everyone in the family and community bring their machetes to scape the tubers. The tubers are fed into a rotating grinder (a small cylindrical piece of wood lined with metal teeth). The grinders can either be powered by a motor or a large hand-wheel. The liquid rich pulp falls into a catch basin and is allowed to rest overnight.
Since this liquid contains toxins including cyanide, which are extremely poisonous, property owners have to surround the Mandioca Flour production area with barbed wire fencing to keep the cows and other animals away.
The next part of the process involves pressing all the poisonous liquid out of the pulp. This can be accomplished by placing it in a container, stacking boards on top, and using a long wooden pole to gain leverage as you press down on the pulp over the course of many hours. Another, completely ingenious method, involves a long flexible woven palm basket. The pulp gets stuffed down the open end of the basket. Then it is hung up on a high branch. A wooden leverage pole is inserted into the woven eye hook at the bottom of the basket. As the flexible basket is stretched toward the ground the liquid is squeezed out and collected.
While some people allow the liquid to run back into the river, others save it to produce several products. By storing the liquid in plastic containers, the remaining sediment that drifts to the bottom can be harvested. After drying out, a white powder can be produced that we know as “Starch.” This powdered starch can be added to wash water to help in the ironing of shirts! Another use of the left-over liquid is to add hot red peppers to it in order to create a strong smelling condiment.
But, more important for Brazilians, this white powder is edible! They call it “tapioca flour” and use to make “crepe-like” or “tortilla-like” rounds. They press the powder out into a heated round skillet and cook it over the stove top until warm and crispy on the bottom side, then flip or add almost endless varieties of toppings. We tasted our first “tapiocas” at the farmers market in Rio de Janeiro. These warm, crispy, chewy, delicious treats are fantastic!
Once the liquid is squeezed out of the pulp, it is time to fire up the wood burning clay oven. A large round oven is topped with a circular iron pan.
The Mandioca is added one portion at a time (sometimes by turtle shell!) to make sure the fire is not too hot (leading to burning the Mandioca) and not too cold (leading to Mandioca flour that is not the right color and texture). It is the precise cooking of the flour that can lead to the best price at market. The cook uses a large wooden paddle to move the Mandioca around the high-sided pan in slow, smooth circular motions, occasionally flipping it into the air. Experience alone dictates the temperature and cooking time to produce the perfect Mandioca Flour — there are no temperature gauges or timers in these outdoor kitchens.
Not every family in the Amazon can afford their own Mandioca flour production equipment. In that case, they take their Cassava tubers to their neighbors for production. By law 5% of the Mandioca flour must be given to the family with the equipment. This is a fair rental agreement.
The resulting dry Mandioca flour can be sold, kept and eaten for 1.5 years!
Amazingly, Moses told us Mandioca Flour doesn’t really contain any health benefits (the way Acai berries do for example). It is simply a starch. But since it is spread over all types of proteins such as chicken, fish and meat, it adds texture and flavor to every meal.
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