Fruit of the Day: Limão

Limão is Portuguese for - you guessed it! - lime! OK, it isn't incredibly exotic, and even if you don't have one in your fridge right now, you've probably seen a lime somewhere in the last few days. And just maybe, if you're lucky, you sweet-talked someone you love into juggling a few before he mixed them up into a tasty caipirinha. I happen to be exactly that lucky.


Ken's Caipirinha (makes 2)

2 limes
2-3 heaping tablespoons of sugar
2 shots of cachaça*
Lots of ice

Cut each lime into 8 pieces and put in a mortar or other suitably heavy mixing bowl. Spoon in the sugar and muddle with a pestle until the limes are flat and the lime juice is squeezed out of the lime bits. If your limes aren't particularly juicy (hey, it happens to everyone sometimes), you can add a splash or two of water. Pour the lime/sugar mixture into a shaker, add the cachaça, fill the saker with ice, and shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Distribute between two glasses (do not strain). If you're fancy you can garnish it with a lime slice, but ours don't usually last long enough for that.

*Cachaça is alcohol made from the distillation of fermented sugar cane. Wikipedia just told me that 1.5 billion liters of cachaça are consumed annually in Brazil, compared with 15 million liters outside the country. At RS$5, or about $2.50 US per 1L bottle, I'm not surprised. Anyway, if you can't find cachaça or it's too Richie, feel free to substitute vodka and call this tasty bev a Caipiroska, like they do in Argentina.

UFF Fruit Rating: