Casaba Bread?

July 5, 2004

Was watching The History Channel yesterday. They were talking about

Ponce de Leon and his casaba/casava farm on Puerto Rico in the early

1500s. Casaba flour is made from the root of a native plant. The

flour was used to make a " tasty " bread that lasted for a month. I

looked the bread up on the internet. Apparently it's still being

made in PR and Central America.

I'm wondering if this bread is gluten free? Is it really " tasty " ?

Does anyone have a source for the flour or the bread? And does

anyone have a recipe?

July 5, 2004

I'm sure you meant cassava (which is tapioca) and not casaba which is a

melon. This article describes what you mention

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/taino.shtml

Also, Here is a good article I found on cassava at

http://www.congocookbook.com/c0071.html

Also, here are some traditional recipes from around the world for Cassava

Bread:

Sweet Cassava Bread

by Carol M. Bareuther

Corn nourished the Central American Maya's; the Peruvian Inca's grew on

potatoes, while in the Caribbean the Arawak's thrived on manioc, better

known as Cassava. The Arawak Indians inhabited the Virgin Islands many

hundreds of years before Columbus first voyaged to this part of the world.

Traditionally, the Arawaks placed their hand-fashioned clay griddles over a

fire, then poured the cassava meal on top. The heat slowly caramelized the

cassava's natural sugars, gluing the bread together and giving it a golden

brown color.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrition: 254 calories, 4 grams fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol and 118

milligrams sodium per serving.

Ingredients:

2 cups finely grated cassava

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup dried shredded coconut

½ cup brown sugar

Method:

Mix the cassava and salt. Place in a damp kitchen towel or cloth and wring

out all the liquid.

Spread half of the cassava meal in the bottom of a small iron frying pan or

other heavy frying pan and pat down firmly. Cover with the coconut and the

brown sugar. Add the rest of the cassava and pat down lightly. Bake in a

350° oven until lightly browned or about 20 minutes.

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Jamaican Cassava Bread

1 cup fresh cassava meal

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

1 Tbs. lime juice

1 egg

Directions

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl then add egg and

milk to produce a thick batter. Stir in oil and lime juice.

2. Pour one half of batter into well greased non-stick frying pan.

3. Cook on moderate heat for about 5 minutes

4. Turn and cook for a further 5 minutes

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Filipino Cassava Bread (Quick Bread Style)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

2/3 cup mashed cassava

Stir together flour, baking powder. sugar and salt.

Combine eggs, milk, oil, anise and mashed cassava.

Pour all at once over flour mixture and stir only until flour is moistened.

Pour into greased 4-1/2- by 8-1/2-inch loaf pan.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done.

Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan; cool completely before slicing.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Note: Stir only until flour is moistened. Over stirring batter results in

poor product.

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Sunni

Special Diets Resource Guide

*Dedicated to Managing Special Dietary Needs.*

http://www.specialdiets.org

Sunni,

Thanks for posting these unqiue recipes. I also posted them under the " FILES "