Kasiri, also known as kaschiri and cassava beer, is an

alcoholic drink An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

made from

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

in Suriname and Guyana. The roots of the cassava plant are grated, diluted in water, and pressed in a cylindrical basketwork press to extract the juice. The extracted juice is fermented to produce kasiri. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and Suriname the cassava roots are chewed and expectorated, a process where the

amylase An amylase () is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of ...

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

in saliva turns the starch into sugars and start fermentation."Their staple food is cassava, from which they make cassava bread and brew kasiri, 'cassava beer'." ''Tribal cures for modern ailments'' By Manon van Vark in Surinam 28 August, 1999 BBC New
news.bbc.co.uk
/ref>
/ref> The juice can also be boiled until it becomes a dark viscous syrup called ''kasripo'' (

cassareep Cassareep is a thick black liquid made from cassava root, often with additional spices, which is used as a base for many sauces and especially in Guyanese pepperpot. Besides use as a flavoring and browning agent, it is commonly regarded as a food p ...

). This syrup has

antiseptic An antiseptic (from Greek ἀντί ''anti'', "against" and σηπτικός ''sēptikos'', "putrefactive") is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putre ...

properties and is used for flavoring.

References

Native American cuisine Surinamese cuisine Amylase induced fermentation Guyanese cuisine Types of beer Fermented drinks Cassava dishes {{drink-stub

See also

References