One last jungle post from last December!
During our time in Cuyabeno, we had the chance to visit an Indigenous community and spend time with a local family. The father of the family took us to their farm where we pulled yucca out of the ground to take back to his house.
Here’s Ethan digging up the yucca:
And here’s Alex pealing the skin off of it:
His wife then taught us the traditional method of making cassava bread which is a lot like a giant tortilla made out of yucca flour.
First she grated the yucca:
Lauren was excellent at this:
Then she put the grated yucca in a giant woven mat and twisted it until all the water came out, leaving powdered yucca. She then pushed the powder through a sieve so that it would be super fine. She showed us how to spread it all out on a pan over the fire and pat it down with the bottom of a wooden bowl. Here I am giving it a try (and definitely burning my fingers):
From Russia with Love 