MAISI

Did You Know – The Taino word for corn is maisi or mais (maiz), which is the origin of the word “maize”. While not as important as yuka (manioc/cassava), it was a significant food source found throughout the Caribbean islands in several varieties. Traditionally, corn was eaten, roasted, off the cob as well as ground into meal. According to Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, it seems that cornbread was not as favored as it molded faster than bread made from yuka. Some chroniclers stated that Taino drank a fermented corn beverage called chicha as well as a fermented yuka beverage called uiku.  A traditional Taino form of boiled corn dumpling called guanimeis still made today in various forms. – UCTP Taino News © 2012

Kasabe: Bread made from Yuka

DID YOU KNOW - Traditionally, bread made from yuka or cassava is known in the Taino and Lokono Arawak language as kasabe or kasabi. It was created by kneading yuka (cassava/manioc) flour into flat disks and roasting them on flat ceramic griddles called buren over a cooking fire. Today, the baking of kasabe has been modernized for increase production but it is still presented in the original flat, round style. Whether made from bitter or sweet varieties of yuka/manioc, kasabe is known to preserve exceedingly well with a preservative-free shelf life of about 8 months. In the time of the ancient Taino, it was taken on long journeys over land and sea without spoiling, providing a sometimes a much-needed burst of carbohydrates. The bitter cassava is said to produce a kind of kasabe that was virtually “unassailable by vermin” since it retained a small amount of hydrocyanic toxin harmless to humans but harmful or deadly to insects and rodents. Hab jao (jab jao) is the Taino name still given to the thinnest kasabe in Kiskeia (Dominican Republic). According to Taino tradition hab hao or hau hau (xau xau) was reserved for community leaders and dignitaries. Since the 1970s kasabe production in Kiskeia has expanded the availability of this ancient Taino culinary tradition from the local to international markets. - UCTP Taino News © 2012