Sorvetology I

One of the great things about living in the tropics is the fantastic variety of cheap fresh fruit available. In addition to mango, banana, papaya, guava, pineapple, passion fruit, tangerines, limes, and oranges, Belém has all kinds of exotic fruits from the Amazon that don't have English translations. Even better, these fruits are sometimes made into juices. Even better than that, a Belém-based chain called Cairú makes these fruits into awesome sorvete, or ice cream. Cairú has about 15 stores in Belém in malls and as free-standing shops. Apparently there is also a store in Rio de Janeiro.

In the interest of cross-cultural understanding, I have taken it upon myself to try as many different flavors of Cairú ice cream as possible. The rule, which I may alter as I go along, is simple: I have to eat an entire one scoop cone of each exotic flavor made by Cairú. A taste on a little wooden spoon does not count. This task isn't as easy as it sounds; Cairú makes more than thirty flavors. A cone costs R$2.30, which means that I will spend more than US$30 in this endeavor. * For the time being, I'm skipping the standbys of chocolate and vanilla. Also, I already have some favorite flavors that I would like to repeat but can't since there are still untried flavors. I may skip the electric blue ceu azul (blue sky) or whatever the shocking pink one is (bubble gum?) since both look too synthetic.

Anyway, here is the first installment of the ice cream study:

Murici: wild mango, has a hint of banana. Canary yellow.

Cupuaçú: no translation, the fruit looks like breadfruit with pulpy white flesh and big black seeds. Sweet and slightly tangy, can't describe the flavor better than that. Awesome as a juice and jelly. Off white.

Pavê do Cupuaçú: cupuaçú + chocolate chips. The chocolate distracts from the fruit.

Bacuri: no translation, relative of cupuaçú with a pleasant wooden taste. Also good as a juice and jelly. Off white.

Açaí: no translation, Amazon fruit slightly larger than a blueberry. Flavor hard to describe. Dark purple/brown.

Paraense: açaí + tapioca. Tapioca adds texture and not much else.

Castanha do Pará: brazil nut in vanilla. Really good but ground nuts make texture a little less creamy than other ice creams.

Araçá: no translation. Lemony-cocunut flavor. Off white.

Taperabá: no translation. Citrusy, really good as a juice. Yellow-orange.

*If interested in underwriting this study or would like sponsorship information, please send me an email.