THE VARIETY OF manioc flours produced in Brazil is so great that the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and Supply issued a normative instruction in 2011 to set official standards for the classification of this product. In general, there are three groups: farinha seca (dry flour), farinha d’água (literally “water flour”, a fermented product) and farinha biju (flaked); they are further classified as fine, medium or coarse grained. Raw or toasted, the ingredient has an extensive use in the country’s cuisine since way before the Portuguese arrived. In História da alimentação no Brasil (History of Food in Brazil), Câmara Cascudo registers that manioc flour, for the native Indians, was “the essential and primary conduit, accompanying all edible things, from meat to fruit,” and completes stating that “it is the primitive layer, the fundamental basalt in Brazilian food”. Manioc flour is used to prepare Tutu de feijão (manioc flour and bean mush), Paçoca (ingredients, such as salt-cured meat or cashew nuts, pounded in a mortar with manioc flour), farofa (seasoned and toasted manioc flour), and pirão (savory manioc flour porridge), among other emblematic recipes.