CAIPIRINHA RECIPE

                                                                                                
                                                                     Caipirinha
This traditional Brazilian drink prepared with cachaça is very popular in Europe and the U.S. I guess you could say it USED TO be Brazil's best-kept secret, but it's the connoisseur's cocktail of choice from New York City to Miami, commanding hefty prices. The first time I had one outside Brazil was a long time ago: I walked into a small bar in Domodossola, a small city in northern Italy near the Swiss border, and had a great caipirinha prepared for me by an Italian barman in love with Brazilian music...and caipirinhas! Some of the foods to eat with caipirinhas: fried manioc, codfish balls, and caldinho de feijão (soupy black beans served in a tall glass or a small bowl). Enjoy!
1 lime
2 ounces of cachaça
Sugar to taste
Ice cubes


Wash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen the juices. Cut the lime into pieces and place them in a glass. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush the pieces (pulp side up) with a pestle. (We have a long, wooden one from Brazil, made specifically for this purpose.) Just enough to release the juice, otherwise it'll get bitter. Add the cachaça and stir to mix. Add the ice and stir again. It is delicious and potent!
You can also make a pitcher of caipirinha. Figure out how many people and multiply amounts. If you can't find cachaça where you live, use a good vodka. The drink will then be called caipiroshka. No vodka? Use white rum and you will have a caipiríssima. Caipirinhas made with sake and lychee are all the rage in Brazil now! Try one...We have a recipe for caipirinha made with tangerine, but you can also try the Brazilian fruit called lima-da-Pérsia (pictured here), strawberries, kiwi, fresh passion fruit with mint, passion fruit with pitanga, watermelon, you name it...To see all kinds of Brazilian fruits, visit our At the Feira pages.
The city of Paraty gave its name to the drink: parati is a synonym for cachaça. Other words for it include: pinga, caninha, branquinha, malvada. There are tours of distillers in the state of Minas Gerais, much in the same way as you'd tour vineyards in Sonoma Valley, France or the Brazilian Vale dos Vinhedos, with the added bonus of their famous regional cuisine. Cachaça is also notorious for brands with pornographic labels...they're hilarious!
Cachaça has also inspired many famous Brazilian songs, "Moda da Pinga" and the famous carnaval song "Cachaça" are my favorites.
You can use cachaça to flambé bananas and other food; add it to hot chocolate and even to coffee; marinate pork loin and pork chops, etc.
Senac has published a book about cachaça that's extremely informative; I finally found out why it's different from rum, for example...It's made from cane juice outright. You can also get the Caipirinha book above on your next trip to Brazil.

A great place to visit in Leblon is Academia da Cachaça, Rua Conde Bernadotte. Great selection of drinks and traditional foods to eat with them. A new place to taste very special cachaças is located in the Lapa district of Rio: Cachaçaria Mangue Seco, Rua do Lavradio.

SUGAR CANE JUICE AND"YES WE HAVE BANANAS"

Sugar cane is an important member of the plant kingdom. It is originated in India. Now it is cultivated in several countries of the world.

The world’s largest producer of sugar cane is Brazil. India now has the second position only. Sugar cane is processed into various products like molasses, ethanol, table sugar, rum etc.


Sugar cane juice is commonly devoured in all the countries where it is produced. Sugar cane juice is a highly refreshing drink. It contains about 15 per cent natural sugar and is rich in organic salts and vitamins.
The sugar cane juice has several health benefits and medicinal properties most of which remains unknown to the masses. It strengthens the stomach, kidneys, heart, eyes, and brain and sex organs. It can be used in the treatment of fevers. In fever related diseases, where there is great protein loss, sugar cane juice supplements the body with necessary protein and food elements.


Sugar cane juice has no simple sugar. It can be cherished by diabetics without any concern. It is excellent for digestion. Sugar cane juice is a mild laxative too due to its high potassium content. It is a rich source of iron and calcium also.


Sugar cane juice is alkaline in nature. It helps the body in fighting off cancer. s The sugar cane juice is especially effective in prostate and breast cancer and helps to put the patient on the path of recovery and excellent in treating urinary related diseases. It keeps the urine flow clear and aids the kidneys to perform better and relieves the burning sensation which arises due to infections of the urinary tract.




THE MOST POPULAR  BRASILIAM BANANAS       

                                                              Brazil is pride of place belongs to the banana, even though it only came to Brazil after the arrival of the Portuguese. It is the most commonly eaten fruit in the country, and Brazil's production is second in the world, trailing only India's.Even though the fruit is not native to Brazil, and can be grown successfully almost everywhere in the country.Recently the Brazilian Department of Agriculture identified the six most common banana varieties in Brazil and published a taste and nutritional comparison of them.

                                                   
 Banana prata (silver banana) - Description: up to 10 inches (25 cm) in length. Not as sweet as most other eating bananas. Can be fried as well as eaten raw. The most commonly eaten variety in Brazil. Nutritional characteristics: Like the banana-maçã, an important source of manganese.


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Banana-da-terra (known in English as plaintain) -  Has less sugar than most bananas and more starch. Not eaten raw, but cooked when green (starchy taste) or when ripe (sweet taste). Nutritional characteristics: the most highly caloric banana, due to presence of starchy carbohydrates. Up to 60% higher calories than some other varieties of banana.

 Banana-maçã (Apple banana) - Description: up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length. Sweet and with flavor reminiscent of apples. Skin is dark yellow and when ripe, the skin can turn completely black. Nutritional characteristics: the banana variety that is richest in manganese, important in the metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates.









           
                                                                   

CAFE - THE "WELCOME" IN BRASIL

One could sit here and write volumes about coffee in Brazil, but if you want to read a good book about it, go to your local library and look for a copy of Vassouras: A Brazilian Coffee County, 1850-1890. The Roles of Planter and Slave in a Changing Society. Stanley J. Stein. New York: Atheneum, 1976. Instead, we'll tell you a little about cafezinho, a word that more than being a diminutive for café is almost a synonym for "welcome" in Brazil. (The antique coffee maker pictured here comes from Minas Gerais.)


Wherever you go, the minute you walk in the door, someone will pop the question "você toma/aceita/quer um cafezinho?" (do you want a cafezinho?) and they won't take no for an answer. Or maybe they won't even ask and the cafezinho will soon materialize on a dainty tray brought in by a maid. In offices, someone will come by and serve cafezinhos to you at your desk, so don't be surprised if, smack in the middle of a business discussion, your Brazilian counterpart offers you a cafezinho too. And, at that point, the conversation may well switch to a non-business topic while you sip away at your coffee. Or you can "belly up to the bar" at any botequim with a counter in Rio and enjoy your cafezinho in a traditional botequim cup...I got one as a present from a botequim owner in Leblon and now use it at home in Miami. Even Starbucks at the chic Shopping Leblon in Rio gives the option of having a paper cup like in the U.S. or a real cup!


Espressos have become so common now in Brazil that you have to specify "carioca," if you want a traditional cafezinho in Rio de Janeiro. At the padaria or bakery, you can still order a cafezinho the old way...Who knows for how long, though!


Cafés are meeting points for business discussions, birthday celebrations, and plain kaffeeklatsch in the afternoon. People, especially those who live alone, are also in the habit of having breakfast in a bakery or café. And entire families go out to these places for breakfast on the weekend; they're the IN place to meet your friends to chat and read the Sunday paper together