Conference turris::cooks

3878.0. "Caipirinha" by TAVIS::JUAN () Tue Dec 07 1993 06:10

    Many, many moons ago, when I was 18, I made my first international trip
    from Argentina to Brazil, where I went to visit some cousins.

    I arrived in Sao Paulo, after a very long Journey - plane to cross the
    La Plata River and then bus all along from Montevideo to Sao Paulo -
    in a very hot January afternoon (January is nid summer in the Southern
    Hemisphere).

    My cousins received me with a lot of noise and a tall glass of Caipirinha
    [Ki-pee-ree-nya]. Caipirinha is the "drink" of the Caipira, the peasant.

    It was wonderful in that hot afternoon the taste of the cold, sweet, lemon
    flavored long drink. The only thying I was not aware, came suddenly when
    my tongue begun drawling, my speech was not so coherent, and it was like
    some Caipira came out of the woods and hit my head with his maze: The
    Caipirinha is based in the local Cacha�a, a sugar cane based rough
    distilate.

    Last week, Elena and I celebrated our 20th. wedding anniversary,
    and we received our guests with - of course Caipirinha. The dancing
    ended by 3AM next morning - and I do blame the Caipirinha for this.


	Caipirinha:

	Put in a mortar:
	1/2 Kg "lemon galego" (sweet lime), sliced
	1/4 Kg sugar
	Pound the lime with the sugar. The lime juice should dissolve the
	sugar, but you should still be able to recognize the lime.
	2 cups crushed ice
	1/2 bottle cacha�a. One bottle if you feel strong enough.

	I substituted the lime with mature, thin peeled lemons and the
	cacha�a with vodka (this last substitution recommended by my
	brazilian cousins). It works!!

	If in doubt about the proportions, be generous with the sugar and
	cacha�a.

    A la vossa saude (to your health) - Enjoy!

    Juan-Carlos Kiel