noun A pliable basket used in South America and the West Indies for extracting the poisonous juice from the manioc-root.

What do you use a Matapee for?

In Guyana and islands of the Caribbean: a flexible basket in the form of a cylinder, used to squeeze the poisonous juice from cassava pulp.

What is a Matapee history?

In order to remove poisonous juices from cassava root (manioc) to make the plant edible, Amerindians invented the matapi or matapee, made, in Guyana, from the itiriti or mukru palms. It is an ingenious plaited basket sieve in the shape of a cylinder with loops at each end.