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Recipes with cachaça

4 recipes that use cachaça, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Caipirinha, takes 5 minutes. It is most often cooked with white sugar, apple juice and cinnamon stick.

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Caipirinha

Brazil's national drink lives on every boteco counter in São Paulo, but it tastes best on a hot Saturday beside a pot of feijoada, or handed over from a beach vendor's cart. It is a short, rough-cut drink for adults only: a whole lime chopped into wedges, crushed with sugar right in the glass, packed with crushed ice and drowned in cachaça, the sugarcane spirit with a grassy, faintly funky edge that rum does not have. Each sip moves from sharp lime oil to cold sweetness to a warm cane finish, with a little crunchy sugar at the bottom to stir back up. The usual mistake is pounding the lime to a pulp: the white pith and the core turn bitter within minutes. Cut out the central white strip, press each wedge only until the juice runs and the skin smells of lime oil, then stop. It is ready when the sugar has mostly melted into a cloudy syrup and the glass frosts on the outside. Cachaça is strong, so sip slowly and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: roll the lime hard on the board before cutting and choose thin-skinned, heavy limes; a thick-skinned lime makes a bitter caipirinha however gently you muddle.

5 minBrazilianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Batida de coco

Along the barracas of Salvador's beaches and at the June São João parties across Bahia, batida de coco comes out of the blender in jugs, poured into plastic cups and drunk while the forró plays. It is a drink for adults only that hides its strength well: creamy, cold and sweet like a coconut milkshake, with cachaça warming the finish rather than shouting. The texture should be thick but pourable, pale ivory, with a soft froth on top. The common mistake is blending the ice for too long, which leaves a thin, watery drink that separates into a fatty layer within minutes. Blend the liquids smooth first, then add the ice and pulse only a few times, until the noise from the blender goes quiet and smooth. It is ready when no lumps of ice rattle and the batida coats the side of the glass. Because it tastes so gentle, keep the cups small and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: chill the cachaça, coconut milk and tin of condensed milk overnight, and you will need less ice and get a richer, denser batida.

8 minBrazilianDrinksGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Quentão

When the Festas Juninas light up São Paulo's interior and the cold southern states in June and July, quentão is ladled steaming from a big pot beside the bonfire, next to paper cones of roasted pinhão, popcorn and paçoca. It is a festival warmer for adults only: dark caramel, sharp fresh ginger, clove and cinnamon, with the cachaça softened by heat but still clearly there. It should taste spicy and sweet, never syrupy, and smell like a spice market from across the yard. Simmering removes only part of the alcohol, so treat a mug as a real drink and drink responsibly. The classic mistake is letting the pot boil hard once the cachaça is in: the alcohol vapour can catch on a gas flame and the drink turns flat and harsh. Keep it at a bare shiver and never pour from the bottle near the flame. It is ready when the caramel is a deep amber, the ginger has made the syrup peppery on the tongue and steam rises without bubbles. Chef's tip: let the sugar caramelise until it smells just short of burnt; that bitter edge is what makes quentão taste grown-up rather than sweet.

35 minBrazilianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cheese and heart of palm pastel

Pastel is the taste of the São Paulo street market: big rectangles of thin dough fried to order until they blister and puff, eaten hot from paper with a glass of caldo de cana (sugar-cane juice). Cheese and palmito (heart of palm) are two of the most popular meat-free fillings. Chef's tip: add a spoon of cachaça (or vodka) to the dough and fry in properly hot oil. The alcohol evaporates fast and makes the crust puff into the light, bubbly blisters that market pastel is famous for.

60 minBrazilianSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with cachaça