The art of processing cassava

Christopher Serju, Arts & Education Writer

Cassava or yuca as it was known to the Tainos for whom it was the main crop, was so integral to their existence, it featured prominently in their worship. Their religion centred on the worship of zemis who were seen as gods, spirits, or ancestors.

Yucahu, one of two major gods, whose name has been translated as 'spirit of the cassava' was the god of cassava and the sea. The minor Taino gods related to growing of cassava, the process of life, creation and death, with Baibrama worshipped for his assistance in growing cassava and curing people from its poisonous juice.

Ann-Marie Howard Brown, curator of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, explained that this stone-age set of people developed a very intricate system of peeling, preparing and cooking the root crop, elements of which still survive today in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.

Juice Mixture

Using a small, sharp, flat stone to peel the cassava, the Tainos would then grate it on a wooden frame embedded with small stones and pieces of coral, until it was reduced to a pulp. This would then be placed in a large funnel-shaped basket called a matapi, which was hung from a tree to facilitate extraction of the juice.

Once the desired consistency was achieved, the mixture was placed on a stone structure called a metate and a smaller stone called a mano, used like modern rolling pin to knead to the consistency of cassava flour. This would then be moulded to the desired size and baked on earthenware griddles.

Howard Brown told Arts & Education that the Tainos passed on this tradition to the enslaved Africans, some aspects of which are still practised in Bull Savannah, St Elizabeth and South Eastern Manchester today.

"They still use the traditional methods where they peel, grate and then put it in a cassava basket/bag and use weights to force out the juice, depending on how much they want to get out," she explained.

Howard Brown continued: "They would squeeze it out like the Tainos and use a mortar and pestle to beat it to the consistency of the cassava flour, sift and then bake it on metal griddle. The flat ones were made with rings while the thick ones - bammy, as we now know it, were made in Dutch pots.

The curator and identical twin sister, Rose Marie Whittaker, a senior archeologist, were members of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust which participated in last Wednesday's cassava expo hosted by the University of Technology under the theme 'Celebrating the Wonders of Cassava'.

Showing relics (in some cases pieces) from the Taino era, they provided an enlightening running commentary, complemented by printed material, on this aspect of Jamaica's past, consistent with the Trust's mission to: "Inspire a sense of national pride through the promotion, preservation and development of our material cultural heritage ...".

This is something with which former agriculture minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, who, in 2008, spearheaded the drive to get cassava recognised for its vast potential economic value, can identify.

He told Arts & Education last Wednesday: "While it represented a definite alternative (to imported food) I also recognised its cultural symbolism as a product we have known from before the Spanish came here. Therefore, it could be used as a symbol to promote local consumption of all crops."