Pato no Tucupi

Tucupi is the juice extracted from the manioc plant. The juice is boiled to release its toxins, then bottled, usually with pimenta-de-cheiro.

The tale of the tuber’s origin has been passed down from the Tupi Indians. As the legend goes, a mother had no food and watched her starving infant die. The grieving woman could not part with her babe and so buried him under the floor of her hut. During the night, a wood spirit, or mani, visited the hut and transformed the child’s body