The Casabe deserves to be Intangible Heritage of Humanity

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By Caribe Insider
The Casabe, also called bread of the aborigines, is a pre-Columbian food and it has sufficient cultural, historical and gastronomical values that recognize it as a typical dish of the Caribbean countries, and could well be declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a long-standing claim.

In this endeavor, a strong research movement has been generated around cassava, in which many people and defenders of these tasty cakes that survive the competition of today's junk food.

Among these personalities have been Esperanza Lithgow and ambassador Rosa María Nadal, along with some 25 chefs who elaborated various recipes on how to make cassava with the purpose of publishing them in a book.

It is worth remembering that the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Republic has played an important role in submitting the request to UNESCO, together with Cuba, to declare cassava as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Precisely, with the signing on Thursday, March 18th, of an agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Dominican Academy of Gastronomy (ADG), the support and collaboration links are strengthened and reinforced.

The cassava is made from sour cassava flour, from which the Indians extracted the toxin by pressing the root after scratching it into a sandy dough, which they would then join together with their hands and cook at high temperatures on a griddle called burén.

It constituted an essential food for the Tainos, who were able to spread through
the insular Caribbean and after the Spanish conquest and colonization, it reached the peninsula by the
the hand of the sailors who found cassava an essential provision on their ships when they made the voyages.

In the Caribbean islands, this very peculiar food has not lost its
in force at the table, although it is produced in an artisanal way by families or family groups, where the tradition has been for centuries, it continues to be known by new generations and incorporating it to the table.

It is highly appreciated as an accompaniment to Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities, as an inseparable companion of the roast pork, although in normal days it is also consumed at breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

The request to save and promote cassava is also linked to the purpose of the international Slow Food movement, founded in Rome in 1989, which
encourages natural food and the safeguarding of ancestral knowledge, as the basis for food security in nations.

The cassava deserves to be declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity.