Budare

The budare is a circular baked clay plate with traditional pre-Hispanic origins of pre-Hispanic gastronomy. Originally made of clay, it is used to cook or toast foods such as arepas, cachapas, cassava cassava, mañoco or coffee, among others. Aripo is the version made of cast iron, although in practice they are used synonymously.

Etymology

The term "budare", of Taíno origin, is associated with the words buran and burén.

On the island of Margarita, in the state of Nueva Esparta, the budares are a little smaller and thinner and are called "aripos", a Cumanagoto word from which the term "arepa" is believed to derive.

One of the historical records of these terms is found in the 16th century work Voyage and description of the Indies, by Galeoto Cey, in which he writes the following:

Once the root of the yuca has been squeezed out, they take it out of these containers or sebucans, which is left as a sawn, and on the fire have torteras of land, big as a fence, which in the Indias they call aripos or burenes.

Galeoto Cey

Likewise, another record is preserved by Joseph Gumilla in his work The Orinoco illustrated and defended where he writes:

Adjoined the sawdust of the yucca twenty-four hours, it takes a point like the dough of wheat, and then, in thin and wide bricks, which they call budare, under which the fire burns, they tend that dough made cake

José Gumilla

Features and uses

The current form of the budare was developed in the 18th century. Modern budars are made of iron, steel or aluminum and often receive a treatment called "curing" or "curing" so that food does not stick too much to its surface.. An even more modern alternative is the Teflon-coated budare.

To cook casabe and mañoco, very large budars are used, 80 cm or more in diameter, placed directly over a wood fire.

Similar instruments

In Mexico and some Central American countries there is a similar utensil called "comal". Likewise, in the Peruvian Amazon there is a version called "blandona".