MANIOC PROCESSING - Click on photos to enlarge.
Manioc is a staple food throughout the region where the Canela live. The Canela plant manioc in farm plots,
Manioc plants in a field.
and then harvest it sometimes as long as three years later.
Three generations of women with manioc in baskets.
Photo by Jean Crocker, 1991
In order to eat bitter manioc it must first be prepared, which begins with peeling.
Photo by Carl Hansen, 1993
It must then be grated, either by hand, or in a grating machine driven by a gasoline generator.
Peeling and grating manioc on a home-made grater made by punching holes in a piece of metal.
New gasoline generator.
It is then strained,
Center man pushing grated manioc through woven strainer into a trough in 1975.
Woman using a larger strainer in 1999.
and then pressed to remove the hydrocyanic acid, commonly known as prussic acid.
Pressing out the acid the traditional way with a woven tipiti.
Pressed manioc from the tipiti.
Woman using the more modern press.
Then it is toasted, which results in a fine, faintly yellowish flour, called farinha.
Toasting the manioc flour.
Toasting in 1993.
Photo by Carl Hansen
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