Cassava-based dishes

Many cassava-based dishes are consumed in the regions where cassava (Manihot esculenta, also called 'manioc' or 'yuca') is cultivated. Manihot esculenta is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes.

As a food ingredient, cassava root is somewhat similar to the potato in that it is starchy and bland in flavor when cooked. Cassava can be prepared in similar ways to potato; it can be boiled, mashed, fried or baked. Unlike the potato, however, cassava is mostly a tropical crop, and its peculiar characteristics have led to recipes, such as sweet puddings, which have no common potato version.

In some parts of the world (chiefly in Africa and some Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines), cassava leaves are also cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Raw cassava, especially the bitter variety, contains cyanogenic glycosides and normally must be cooked before eating or turned into a stable intermediate product through a series of processes to reduce the toxins in the cassava to a level safe for human consumption. The typical process in West Africa and Central America includes peeling, mashing, fermenting, sun-drying and toasting. Popular intermediate products obtained from processing cassava tubers include garri, tapioca and cassava flour.

In many Caribbean islands, cassava flour is made into a round-shaped flat bread called casabe or "cassava bread".

Cassava is a staple of Cuban cuisine. Besides casabe bread, it is prepared as a side dish: boiled, then covered with raw onion rings and sizzling garlic-infused olive oil. It is also boiled, then cut into strips and fried to make yuca frita (similar to French fries). Yuca is also one of the main ingredients in ajiaco, a traditional Cuban stew, along with potatoes, malanga, boniato (sweet potato), plantain, ñame, corn and other vegetables. Cuban buñuelos, a local variation of a traditional Spanish fritter (similar to the French beignet), are made with cassava and sweet potato instead of flour. These are fried and topped off with anisette-flavored sugar syrup. Yuca chips, "chicharritas de yuca", are often consumed as a side dish or a snack. These chips are deep-fried thin rings of the root.

Traditional Cuban churros were historically prepared with yuca paste and that is the way they are still made in most Cuban households; however, most churro-making street carts and cafeterias in the island and in Miami use yuca flour to create the dough nowadays.

Cassava (Haitian Creole: kasav) (French: Cassave) is a popular starch and common staple in Haiti, where it is often eaten as part of a meal or occasionally by itself. It is usually eaten in bread form, often with peanut butter spread on the top or with milk. Cassava flour, known as musa or moussa, is boiled to create a meal of the same name. Cassava can also be eaten with various stews and soups, such as the traditional pumpkin soup referred to as soup joumou. Cassava flour is also used to make a Haitian cookie called bonbon lamindon. The root vegetable yuca is grated, rinsed well, dried, salted, and pressed to form flat cakes about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter and 1⁄2 inch (1 cm) thick.