Aipim (Sweet cassava)

Predominant in the small farms of Paraty, sweet cassava — or simply aipim — is served boiled, fried, or roasted. Short-cycle cultivars like batubana and vassourinha can be harvested in just six to eight months, and if left in the ground up to twelve months, still produce good-quality flour. With white or slightly yellow flesh and a very low content of hydrocyanic acid, it requires no detoxification. Its soft texture and sweet flavor ensure quick turnover at farmers’ markets, boost income for rural families, and win over visitors

in search of local culinary experiences.

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Mandioca brava (Bitter cassava)

Requiring twelve to eighteen months of cultivation, bitter cassava contains a high level of hydrocyanic acid and can only be consumed after thorough grating, pressing, washing, and roasting. The result is

a firm, dry, high-yield flour — a traditional base for beijus, farinha-d’água breads, and pirões. Once a

staple in community flour houses, this variety has nearly disappeared; however, seed banks and revival initiatives are working to bring it back. Its darker leaves, deep brown skin, and white, cream, or pinkish flesh indicate a dense starch and distinctive flavor highly prized by those who know it well.

 

Origins of the varieties

Although cassava rarely flowers, each fruiting can produce entirely new genetic combinations. Still, the most common method of propagation is vegetative: through cuttings (manivas) taken from plants that prove to be productive, resilient, or flavorful. Each plot becomes a small laboratory: when one plant stands out, the farmer selects manivas, gives the new variety a name (“purple aipim,” “butter,” etc.),

and shares it with neighbors. Decades of this empirical, hands-on practice have shaped a diverse

genetic heritage — adapted to floodplain, hillside, and coastal soils — that sustains both food security

and the cultural identity of Paraty.