Tag Archive: cachaça

Apr 05

Cachaça de jambú!

Categories:

Food and drink

I’m feeling pretty excited today – not only is it Friday, but I’ve just discovered the existence of Cachaça de Jambú! We looked at jambú before when I told you about Tacacá, the soup from the Amazon that makes your lips and tongue go numb (surely one of Brazil’s weirdest dishes).

Jambú is an Amazonian herb that gives tacacá its anaesthetic property. It looks rather like a weed, with straggly stems and strange yellow/red pom-pom flowers.

Jambú

The Jambú plant in flower.

 

In Brazil’s northern states (such as Pará and Amazonas) the leaves and flowers of this plant are added to soups and stews. It has quite a nice flavour actually but it’s the strong numbing, tingly effect that really sets it apart from other greens.

 

And now they’re putting it in cachaça! I should be clear here, I haven’t tried it yet but you can be sure i’ll be doing my best to hunt it down at the earliest opportunity!

I heard about cachaça de jambú from this article in Folho de São Paulo. To be honest I don’t know much about it – is the practice of adding jambú to cachaça a new thing or have people been doing it for years? From what I can tell it is made by simply infusing regular cachaça with jambú leaves.

cachaça-de-jambú

Mmmm, Cachaça de Jambú. Image from Folha de São Paulo.

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Jan 03

Carnival Songs: Cachaça não é água

Categories:

Art and culture

OK, so that’s Christmas and New Year out of the way – let’s turn our thoughts to Carnival shall we? This year it starts in early February but some years it doesn’t start until March – I’ve heard several Cariocas say that it doesn’t feel like the year has really started until after carnival. Personally I’m rather pleased to have a break from the festivities – 8-12 weeks is the perfect amount of time to recharge the batteries and forget all those ridiculous resolutions you made while you were wallowing in post-Christmas guilt.

When I think of carnival in Rio, I picture thousands of happy revelers at a bloco, dressed in crazy costumes, singing along to one of the many Marchinhas de Carnaval (traditional carnival songs). During my first carnival I found this a little frustrating – everyone knew the words but me! By my second carnival I had started to pick up the tunes and even bluff my way through some of the choruses. This year I plan to be singing along like a professional!

 

Cachaça

This is Cachaça, not to be confused with water…

 

So I thought I’d help out fellow carnival newbies with some suggested reading/singing. In the run-up to the big week, I’ll post a selection of my favourites carnival tunes. Learn these songs and you’ll feel like you’ve been carnivaling for years!

Today we’ll start with a cautionary tale which highlights the differences between water and Brazil’s favourite spirit – the song is called “Cachaça”.

 

Água de carnaval

This is water (cachaça is cheap, but not that cheap!).

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May 06

5 things you should know about Caipirinhas

Categories:

Food and drink

One of the first things that many people want to do when they arrive in Rio, is try a genuine caipirinha (cai-pi-REE-nya). I was exactly the same when I got here – I had indulged in Brazil’s most famous cocktail many times in England, but now I wanted to know what a real one tasted like.

In the two years that have since passed,  I have been researching this topic with (ahem) diligence and dedication and today I will share with you some of my findings.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Caipirinhas don’t necessarily contain cachaça

When you order a caipirinha in Rio, it is quite normal for your waiter to ask “With cachaça?”. The first time this happened I was confused. Would he ask me if I wanted gin in my gin and tonic? The reason is that many people here have their caipirinhas made with vodka instead of cachaça. “Aha!”, I hear you say, “But that is called a caipiroska (or caipivodka). A caipirinha, by definition, is made with cachaça”. Personally, I agree with you – it’s just that most of the waiters and bar staff in Rio don’t. Every so often, if you don’t specify, a caipivodka will arrive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Jan 16

The Yakuza drinks White Horse

Categories:

Food and drink

I had to do a bit of “work” this Saturday. I’m using the quotation marks there to indicate that it was only nominally work, because in fact I went to a bar to drink cachaça. However, it was work because I was on an assignment which hopefully I can reveal in a week or two (mysterious right?). Anyway, I was carrying out my assignment in a bar I’m particularly fond of in the neighbourhood of Catete, not far from where I live. As far as I can tell, the bar is officially named Britan Bar, but the owner is called Zé and so the name that most people use is Bar do Zé. 

Bar do Zé is old and dusty, it doesn’t have air conditioning, it doesn’t look particularly clean and Zé doesn’t seem particularly friendly. For all these reasons it is my favourite bar in Rio.

Bar do Zé - ramshackle in the best possible way.

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Oct 31

How to make a great Caipirinha

Categories:

Food and drink

To paraphrase the advice given out for Martinis: Caipirinhas are like breasts – one is not enough, three is too many. Now that my hangover has finally subsided I will continue where I left off… 


But before I get going on the steps for making a great Caipirinha, I want to reiterate the warning – this is a powerful drink. When I arrived in Brazil I thought of the Caipirinha as being the same strength as a standard large measure of spirit (rum, vodka, whisky) with a mixer. It isn’t – I estimate that the standard version served in a bar or restaurant in Rio contains at least 5 or 6 standard measures of Cachaça…

 

The basic tools required to make a Caipirinha

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Oct 29

A Word of Advice…

Categories:

Food and drink

…the Caipirinha is a powerful drink and should be treated with respect.

Do not make the mistake of underestimating the power of Brazil’s most famous cocktail. When I have recovered from my hangover, I’ll tell you how to make one for yourself.

3 comments