Manioc flour is a flour made from the tuberous root of the Manihot esculenta plant, which is native to Central and Southern America. This woody shrub is more commonly known as manioc, cassava, or yucca, and in addition to being the source of manioc flour, it is also used to produce tapioca and it is used whole in recipes in which it may be fried, steamed, or stewed. Manioc flour has been used by Native Americans for centuries, and many Latin American cultures call for it in traditional recipes.

For people who are not making Latin American food, the primary reason to use manioc flour is that it is gluten free. It can be used in gluten-free recipes for cakes, cookies, and other dishes, either on its own or in combination with other gluten free flours. The flour has a coarse, mealy texture and a nutty flavor with a faint hint of acidity which can be quite distinctive.

The best source for manioc flour is a Latin American market. It may also be labeled tapioca flour, polvilho, yucca flour, or cassava flour, and in some regions, people know it better as farinha de mandioca. The flour is made by grating the raw tuber, allowing the gratings to dry, and then grinding them. Some cassava plants have dangerous substances in their roots which require people to soak the roots before and after grating, to leach these substances out; manioc flour is perfectly safe to use as-is, since it has been treated to remove any toxins as part of the process used to turn it into flour.

In Latin American cuisine, manioc flour is used in some nations as a breading for fried food and as a constituent in cakes and breads. The coarse flour may be used alone or mixed with other ingredients, depending on the taste of the cook, so if you are traveling in Latin America, don't assume that something with manioc flour is inherently gluten free.

If you have never worked with manioc flour before, you may want to use recipes which are specifically designed for this flour to allow yourself to grow accustomed to it. Once you are familiar with the way in which manioc flour behaves as it is used, you can experiment with substitutions and recipe alterations to suit your specific needs. Like all flours, manioc flour can go bad if stored improperly; keep it in a sealed container in a cool dry place until use, and try to utilize it within six months of purchase for freshness. You can also freeze manioc flour if you want it to last longer.