Mané pelado

Mané pelado (lit. 'Naked Mané') or bolo mané pelado is a Brazilian cake traditional to Goiás and the Center-West. It consists of shredded yuca and coconut, and a salted cheese such as canastra cheese or minas cheese. It can be found at regional Festa Juninas in Brazil.

History
The exact origin of the cake is unknown, but there are several urban legends as to how it was created. Some stories tell of a farmer named Manoel or Mané who would sell this cake either shirtless or with an unbuttoned shirt, whereas others claim that the dessert is named after a farmer named Mané who would harvest yuca while naked. Another story tells that the cake is named in honor of a nearby farmer named Mané who provided the yuca used when the recipe was created.

Researchers with Comer História (History of Eating), a project run by the Universidade Estadual Paulista em Marília at São Paulo State University, made the claim in 2023 that Mané pelado is a derivation of Manauê, a Brazilian cake from the colonial period that was adapted from a traditional indigenous Brazilian meal. It was created by the Portuguese after adding eggs, milk, sugar, and fat to an indigenous meal consisting of yuca dough baked in a banana leaf and baking it in a tray instead of in leafs. Mané pelado would have then been developed when coconut and cheese were added to Manauê. It would get its name from a gradual shift from Manauê to Manué to Mané, with pelado (naked) being added to the end as a reference to how the dessert would be baked in a pan rather than a banana leaf.