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Pan de yuca is a popular Latin American bread made from cassava flour. Cassava is a hardy plant that is grown for its starch and is the third largest carbohydrate crop in the world. The bread is often served for breakfast and can be filled with a variety of ingredients. The recipe typically includes tapioca flour, eggs, baking powder, and cheese. The bread is gluten-free and has a soft, chewy interior.
Pan de yuca is Spanish for “yuca bread.” Yuca is a hardy plant of equatorial latitudes and is commonly called cassava. The starch in the yuca roots is extracted, made into flour and used especially in Latin American cooking. Quick baked bread served with a cup of hot chocolate is a favorite breakfast for many people in Colombia and Brazil. Elsewhere in the world, cassava is grown for its starch and baked into regional bread.
Cassava is a small, woody, perennial shrub that protects long, nutritious, tuberous roots. Originating in South America and known to have been grown in Central America as early as 1600 BC, it has since become the third largest carbohydrate crop in the world. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer, followed by Thailand and Brazil. Growing to full maturity in just 10 months even in nutrient-poor soils with low rainfall, the harvested bitter pulp of its roots is first treated for the removal of toxic compounds and the retention of significant calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C. The final flour, finely textured like corn starch, is commonly called tapioca.
Pan de yuca is sometimes referred to as the “bread of the tropics”. In Brazilian cuisine, tapioca flour is so widely used that restaurants called tapiocarias specialize exclusively in dishes made from it. Baked or fried as a bread, its neutral taste readily complements a variety of fillings and toppings, from cheese and meat to chocolate and bananas. Although eaten both at night and during the day, in part due to its high carbohydrate content, pan de yuca is most popular as a breakfast dish.
In Colombian cuisine, a cassava flat bread called arepa is made. In traditional South American and Caribbean cultures, it is called casabe. The thin, crusty type of bread, sometimes up to 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter, is toasted over a large grill and broken into pieces to be eaten like crackers. Both the cassava plant and this simple bread were introduced to Africa by Portuguese traders during the 16th century and have become the continent’s most important food source.
The typical recipe for a pan de yuca that might be sold in a bakery or Latin American market is: 1 cup (about 200 g) of tapioca flour, two eggs and 1.5 teaspoons (about 6.3 g) of baking powder in powder. Additional flavor, body, and liquid are often provided by 2 cups (400 g) of crumbled queso fresco or an equally fresh, moist cheese like ricotta. A little sugar can also be added. The resulting dough is portioned, formed into balls or crescents, and baked in a 375-degree Fahrenheit (190-degree Celsius) oven for about 20 minutes.
This type of unleavened, gluten-free bread has a thin crust and a soft, chewy interior. Even without cheese, it’s moist because yuca starch has a high capacity to absorb liquid. Bread has a tendency to expand in volume with the introduction of saliva and may have occasional difficulty swallowing. This is one more reason why it is traditionally served with a cup of hot chocolate. Pan de Yuca also has a tendency to harden relatively quickly, so it’s best served right after it’s made, fresh and hot.
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