Part Five: São Paulo, Brazil

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Day Sixteen

We arrived at the restaurant at the predetermined time of 7.00am for a leisurely breakfast before setting up for the class. I was happy to discover a carton of milky coloured cashew fruit juice on the table, which I tasted for the first time. Pleasant, subtle, but forgettable. However, my first impression of the 'in-your-face' acerola juice was a different story. Also known as Barbados cherry and escobillo, the red berries yield a tart red fruity juice that I found quite appealing. Apparently acerola juice is as common in Brazil as orange juice is in Australia and America.


Also on the menu was açaí juice, a thick and refreshing deep-purple coloured juice with a pronounced berrylike taste. from the fruits of the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea). The fruits are round with a thin skin and purplish, almost black when the fruit is ripe. The pulp has the same colour as the skin. Apparently the juice is rich in Antioxidants, Omega 3, 6, & 9 Fatty Acids, Natural Vitamin E, and Amino Acids. At least that's what it said on the carton. Anyway, it tasted nice. The clustering palm that yields the fruits is also famous for yielding heart of palm, the increasingly popular gourmet food.

The compact kitchen had everything we needed and before long we were ready to go with the hands-on class. The ten students arrived, and after a short introduction and issuing Gopala Prasada aprons, we set about preparing the lunch, which was a similar menu to the one I prepared the day before in Rio Preto. 

As usual, the home-made cheese was the star attraction. Even though I have made it hundreds of times, it always turns out slightly differently. This depends on the quality of the milk, the nature of the curdling agent, the length of time it was pressed in the cheese-cloth, and many other subtle kitchen conditions. This time it turned out especially succulent. 

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