Casabe is a Cuban cassava bread, a staple in the Taíno diet. Cassava is peeled, washed, ground, pressed, sieved, and finally shaped into large circular molds and cooked on a stone plate called “burén”.
➡ Often served during a Cuban breakfast accompanied by eggs, as in my case, and/or avocado.
➡ In the Dominican Republic, it is accompanied by damambá, Dominican salted peanut butter, or with habichuelas with dulce de leche.
Very similar to the Brazilian Beiju de tapioca, although the Brazilian recipe uses tapioca, which is the starch extracted from cassava, and to the Paraguayan Mbejú where cassava starch called yuca amargo in Spanish, is used.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very economic
- Rest time: 5 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Hours
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Caribbean
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 cassava
- 4 eggs
- to taste salt
- to taste olive oil
Steps
Grate the peeled cassava into a kitchen towel, add salt, squeeze it, spread it out, and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours, mixing every hour.
In a pan with a drizzle of oil, distribute the mixture and cook both sides until finished.
Serve with a fried or skillet egg.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
How is cassava used in Cuba?
Cassava is a staple food in Cuban cuisine. Besides casabe bread, it is prepared as a side dish: boiled, with raw onion and olive oil.
It is also one of the main ingredients in a traditional Cuban stew called ajiaco.
➡➡ Cuban buñuelos, a local variant of a traditional Spanish fritter, are made with cassava and sweet potatoes instead of flour, fried, and topped with sugar syrup anise.
➡➡ “Chicharritas de yuca” are thin fried rings of the root.
In general, when fried vegetables are sliced crosswise, they are called “chicharritas”.
