Among the Taíno, meals are not divided into starter, main course, and dessert: everything revolves around the casabe, the large cassava flatbread cooked on the budare, which is broken and shared. For everyday meals, it is accompanied by fish, crab, or a bit of sweet potato; during the areítos — those great sung and danced festivals — the cacique organizes communal feasts where the common pot is placed in the center, along with grilled meats from the boucan, fruits, and drinks. People eat with their fingers, sitting or lying in hammocks, serving themselves directly from the shared dishes.

The Taíno signature is bitter cassava (yuca): a root that is toxic raw, which women grate and press in a long braided sleeve (the cibucán) to expel the poisonous juice, then cook into flatbread on the budare, a ceramic griddle. The pressed juice, far from being discarded, is boiled at length until it becomes a dark, savory syrup that flavors stews. The ají chili pepper adds heat to the whole.