The fruit of a woody climbing shrub, guaraná
is a round orange-red capsule about 1 inch in diameter. When ripe, the
capsule splits partially open, revealing a black seed covered with
white flesh only on its innermost side. The edible portion, the seed
with the white flesh removed, is rich in caffeine.
Guaraná is one of the best loved fruits in Brazil and much
folklore is based around it. The fruit has an uncanny
resemblance to the human eye as it "peers" out of its opened bright
orange-red capsule.
A legend of the Sataré Maué Indians explains why
the seeds resemble eyes. A beautiful Indian woman named
Onhiauacabe gave birth toa child sired by a mysterious being. This
child was killed for eating some forbidden nuts, and at his burial site
a guaraná
bush grew from his eye. According to the legend, the bush also brought
forth a child from whom the Maué
tribed descended.
Ingesting the seeds produces high energy levels, which the Indians
attributed to supernatural powers, but which we now know is the effect
of caffeine.
To the Indians, the seeds were not only a stimulant, they were an
aphrodisiac and a means to prolong life. They roasted and
ground the seeds, mixed them with manioc meal, and rolled the resulting
paste into sticks, which were allowed to harden. Using the
rough-surfaced tongue of the pirarucu fish as a grater, they broke off
small pieces of the dried guaraná paste and
rehydrated them in water to make a dried.
Guaraná
is available today in a variety of forms, including a very popular
carbonated soft drink of the same name, a syrup, a powder, in capsules
and in sticks ade by the caboclos.
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Eat Smart in Brazil
How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a
Tasting Adventure
by Joan Peterson
Ginkgo Press, 2006
This distinctively useful travel
guide offers a culinary history of Brazil and descriptions of its
regional cuisines. An encyclopedic directory of Brazilian menu
items is included in the back of the book along with a glossary that
translates the meaning of words and phrases like
refeição completa (home-made food) and cerveja bem gelada
(well-chilled beer).
A recent entry in the Eat Smart series by Gingko Press, the purpose of
the book is to help travelers eat and drink like the locals and get to
the heart of the culture through its cuisine.
"My intention is to enable the traveler to decipher the menu with
confidence and shop or browse in the supermarkets and in the
fascinating, lively outdoor food and spice markets with greater
knowledge," author Joan Peterson explains. "A number of the vegetables
and many of the extraordinary tropical fruits in Brazil appear nowhere
else but in these outdoor markets."
Guarana
Soda
Guarana
Seed Powder
Guarana
Tablets
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