Açaí (ah-sah-eeee)

I can't believe I've never posted about açaí before (besides including it in the top 100 foods list)!  Açaí is a berry/fruit that grows on the Açaí palm, which is native to the Amazon.  It is usually served as a juice or a puree, sweetened with honey and mixed with yogurt, granola and bananas.  It is delicious, refreshing, and has lots of healthy antioxidants.  It is more common in the Northeast, but it can be found all over Brazil, and is a popular afternoon snack, served at ice cream stores or snack shops that specialize in smoothies and salgados (salty snacks).  

In the past 6 months or so, we've noticed a sudden increase in the amount of these snack shops in Belo Horizonte.  They are popping up everywhere, and they usually have the same kind of signage (a rectangular sign with images of fruits in the background) and the açaí included in the name of the store. I think that there is a new chain in town, but now people are piggy-backing on the idea, and without much creativity.  In fact, I've seen at least one store open RIGHT NEXT to another new store.  My oldest daughter loves to tell me all the names of the different stores, because some of them are just downright silly.  Here's a list of what she remembers:

1.  Rajaçaí--the açaí place on Avenida Raja

2.  Megaçaí

3.  Daçaí

4.  Taçaí

5.  Topaçaí

6.  Refresçaí

7.  Savaçaí--in Savassi

8.  Praçaí

9.  Peçaí

10.  And our favorite, Thaçaí, because Brazilians have a very hard time pronouncing the "TH" sound.

If I opened my own açaí place, I would called it "Saci açaí" (pronounced "saw-see-ah-sah-eeee") and have a picture of Saci frolicking amongst the fruits, eating açaí.  Anyone else have a names they can add to my list, or a creative name for an açaí business?

Suco de Cupuaçu

http://www.pomarvirtual.com.br/frutiferas/84-mudas-de-cupuacu-delicioso.html

I mentioned in my last post that I had Cupuaçu ice cream, and that inspired me to try out some different flavors of fruit pulp to make juice.  We tried the Cupuaçu blended with water and sugar.  A little bit tangy, but refreshing and enjoyable.  

Cafe do Mirante

Me and my sister, "mirante" in the background

My sister is here visiting, and she loves coffee.  Her love of coffee has rubbed off on my husband.  So we decided to visit a coffee farm while she was in Minas Gerais.  Unfortunately, due to our schedules, we couldn't plan a return trip to Fazenda Cachoeira, but several friends recommended Cafe do Mirante in Santo Antonio do Leite, which is relatively close to Ouro Preto (about an hour and 1/2 from Belo Horizonte).

I was able to schedule a tour via email (in Portuguese, but they were very quick about getting back to me).  For R$14 a person, we got a tour of the coffee farm, to see the production and storage area, sample the coffee, tour the distillery (alimbique), sample some cachaca, and tour the pousada.  The kitchen was closed, so we weren't able to eat there, but we brought a yummy picnic and enjoyed it on the grass yard with a beautiful view.

Picking Jabuticaba

The woman who made our sample of coffee was great, and we REALLY enjoyed the sample (her method was a surprise, and a little bit of a shock,but so worth it).  I also got to mark something off on my Brazilian bucket list: pick jabuticaba fresh off the tree!  November is the month to harvest, and there were  a few trees at the pousada.  It's delicious!

The library bus at Jeca Tatu

On the way back to BH,  we stopped at Jeca Tatu, a restaurant/museum unlike anything we've ever seen before.  There are several old American school buses that have been converted to rooms that hold books, memorabilia, old records, and all sorts of fascinating stuff.  Well worth the stop.

We also stopped for ice cream at Arte e Manha.  There were signs everywhere along the road, advertising their unique ice cream flavors, such as violet, guava and cheese (romeu e julieta), rose, and many unique Brazilian fruit flavors.  I had graviola (aka soursop) and cupuaçu (tropical rainforest fruit somewhat related to cacãu) and seriguela and cajá.  My sister had the goiaba e queijo.  I'd highly recommend any of they unique flavors.

We had a great day!

Van Dyke Mango

The sacalão had a new variety of mango.  It was advertised as the "Vemdek" (if I remember correctly) but it's actually a Van Dyke.  It was grown in Florida (most likely a descendent of the Haden).  It isn't very fibrous, so it's not very stringy, which is a plus.  The flavor is very sweet, and it doesn't have much of a bite or tangy flavor, which in my opinion, is a minus.  Not bad, but not great.  

Walking to work

Almost exactly a year ago, we moved to our new apartment.  I love our new apartment.  Here are some of the reasons why:

1.  It's not infested with termites.

2.  It's close to Dora's school.

3.  It's not molding (yet).

4.  It's spacious.

5.  It's close to everything (bakery, bookstore, grocery, bank, fruit store, ice cream, etcetera)

6.  It's relatively flat on our street.

7.  The neighbors are nice and actually helpful

8.  It's close to 2 of 3 Maple Bear campuses.

So I get to walk to work.  I love walking to work.  Today I saw this:

Yes, it's September 25th, time to start your Christmas shopping!!  Especially for overpriced, kitschy snowmen decor.

And I saw this:

It looks like melons growing on the tree trunk.  Any ideas of what it is?  Cacau?

Mangosteen

The local sacolão (fruit/vegetable store) has been having some smoking deals on produce lately.  I don't know if all the months of paying through the nose for tomatoes has finally caught up with everyone, but  it's nice to see some real "sales" in Brazil.  One of the specials has been on mangosteen, and today I finally decided to buy one for R$1.50 (USD $0.66).  I first heard about mangosteen back at the Tempe YMCA, where there was a big poster for mangosteen juice right in front of the Stair Masters.  I guess Mangosteen juice has antioxidants and is supposed to be good for you.  But the main thing is that it's DELICIOUS!  Very sweet, very yummy flavor.  You have to kind of crack it open, and there are about 8 segments inside, some with a large pit that you can't eat.  I'm not going to start trading mangoes for mangosteens (mangosteenes?), but definitely a fruit that I'm glad I've experienced.

Caja Mango

I've been on kind of a fruit kick lately.  It's either write about fruit, or write about the stupid leak (again) in our apartment.  Fruit is easier to deal with.  No surprises.  No not showing up.  No bitter taste in your mouth after confronting so much incompetence.

I found a new kind of mango at a neighborhood market a few weeks back.  Behold, the Caja Manga:

from Brasil Escola

They are little (slightly larger than a kiwi), and they were very green when I bought them.  Our empregada Irene told us that they we should wait to cut them until they look like the picture above, a deep, mustard yellow kind of picture.  She also told us that they are pretty sour, and best used in juices with sugar added.   A little bit of research also taught me that they are pretty stringy, and not so great to eat plain.  I had to wait over 2 weeks for them to change color and ripen.  The smell was really nice, different from a "normal" mango.  The flavor was indeed more sour, a bit more citrus-y.  I did the best I could to cut it into chunks, and then added it to a smoothie with orange juice and yogurt.   Yum!

Jabuticaba

The husband came home from our favorite grocery store with an impulse purchase:





 
They are harvested twice a year--November, and now!   I've had them before (thanks to Fruit Day at school, which has provided me with lots of different exotic fruits to try).  They look kind of like grapes, and they have a big seed (pit?) in the middle.  The skin is a little sour, and my husband prefers to eat them without the skin, but I like them with.

And thanks to my wikipedia research, they are native to Minas Gerais.  They have a very short shelf life (3 or 4 days), so they are pretty much unknown outside of our state.  The other fascinating thing is that the fruit grows on the trunk of the tree.  I've never seen it in person, but someday:

Kino, Kiwano or Horned Melon

Last week I found this crazy looking "fruit" at school:

The package said "kino," and I said, "I have to try this!"  Unfortunately, it pretty much just tasted like water.  I cut it open, and it had LOTS of little seeds inside.  It kind of looked like maracuja (passion fruit), but the seeds were lighter.  Wikipedia says it tastes tart, so I must have tried one that wasn't very mature, or just plain bad.  Here are some better pictures:

http://todaoferta.uol.com.br/comprar/sementes-de-kiwano-TKU9Q24WRD#rmcl

Wikipedia also says that it's a traditional food plant in parts of Africa.  Interesting looking, and I found some really fascinating pictures of it online (makes a good subject) but not a fruit I'd recommend.