Ancient Cuban flatbread makes comeback as economic crisis bites

By Alien Fernandez and Norlys Perez

A bustling restaurant in old Havana offers diners a blast from the distant past - small circular flatbreads made from ground yucca served alone or topped with any combination of onion, tomato, pork and garlic.

The dish, known locally as casabe, has been around for over a thousand years, historians said. More recently, it has mostly been relegated to field hands and Cuban country outposts.

Now it may be making a comeback.

Cuba's dire economic crisis has vastly reduced the import and production of such basics as wheat flour, sugar and salt.

This has prompted some to give the simple flatbread another look. Its only ingredient is locally grown yucca root, also known as cassava.

“In a time of food crisis like the one we're currently experiencing, we believe cassava bread can help," said Yudisley Cruz, co-founder of Yucasabi, a small business and restaurant that promotes yucca-based products.

Her small restaurant in touristy old Havana sells a single casabe for 15 pesos (4 cents), making it nutritious, delicious and affordable for both tourists and locals alike, she said.

Cruz's restaurant - the only one in Cuba dedicated exclusively to yucca - is trying to popularize the flatbread in urban areas.

But in the countryside, peddlers on foot, bike and moto-taxi sell casabe at even lower prices, a rare foodstuff nearly everyone can afford.

Its near universal appeal, simplicity and cultural roots - it was first cooked on hot rocks by the indigenous Taino people in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean - prompted the United Nations last year to add the food to its intangible cultural heritage of humanity list.

Yucasabi, which features paintings of Tainos in Cuba's lush countryside on its walls, has given the ancient bread a modern spin, in hopes of attracting a new and larger clientele.

"Casabe from Cuba, 100% artisanal, vegan, zero gluten," reads its advertising on social media.

Simplicity, however, remains the flatbread's top selling point, says Julio Cesar Nunez, an 82-year-old traditional casabe producer who lives outside Havana.

Nunez oversees the harvest, peeling, drying, grinding of the yucca root. That is formed into tortilla-like discs and cooked on sheet metal over flames.

“Anyone who takes the time to learn can do it," he said.