açaí
The food is extremely rich in vitamin C and in most of Brazil is made into a brown-purple sherbet served with granola and bananas. In Pará, açaí is more like a slightly chilled thick soup made with less sugar and served with tapioca. I prefer the version found in most of Brazil. I’ve seen açaí as a flavor option at Jamba Juice in the U.S., so evidently the idea of being an açaí importer has been taken and is no longer on my list of non-legal careers.
Despite, or because of, açaí’s export potential, the citizens of Inhangapi organize a big three day party where everyone gets drunk and eats insane amounts of the purple goo. Ten reais bought admission to the festival, a commemorative ceramic bowl (500 mL), and two servings of açaí. I only managed to eat about half of the first bowl. The best part about the festival was the bar that was located under a bridge. The second best part was that the four of us (three Americans and a Spaniard) were the only foreigners there. I made a point to sign all the exhibit guest books to one-up the people from the nearby state of Ceará. People running the exhibits were excited to see us and gave us special access to view the açaí-making process up close. After removing the hairy exterior and washing the fruits, workers dump cleaned açaí into a gigantic chipper that grinds everything up, pits and all, into the ready-to-eat liquid. The buckets containing the liquid are then transferred to freezers and is served by a line of açaí scoopers to customers redeeming their free tickets.
açaí chipperWe also had our picture taken in front of an exhibit on Amazon River fish; I would not be surprised if the photo features prominently in next year’s promotional material to prove Inhangapi’s international tourist appeal.
5 comments:
No, it was more like a thick soup, slightly chilled. The tapioca expands with time when sitting in a liquid, so after a while I had an açaí brick.
Describe your dumps three days following your acai binge.
Your number one fan,
Lucio
Very dark but still firm.
Any notable nematodes?
Lucio
I found your blog post about acai by way of google. I'm an importer in California. It's a part time thing that I do ..my regular job is in the area of distribution. I have added importing acai to my list of possible "legal" products to bring into the states. are you still thinking of acai or other Brazilian products? If you would like to discuss this; then email me at: malomalo AT comcast DOT net Thanks. ...Mike
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