In the Russian novel Twelve Chairs, one of the characters is a con artist who dreams of getting rich and moving to Rio de Janeiro. He imagines arriving in splendor, wearing fashionable white pants, and living in luxury beside the white sandy beach. Growing up with this myth, I also dream about visiting the famous beaches of Rio some day. While researching Brazilian cuisine, I read about a dish called "Açaí na tigela" that is sold directly on the beaches in Rio.
Açaí na tigela is a traditional Brazilian Amazonian dish made of frozen and mashed açaí palm fruit. Açaí berries are becoming very popular in US since this superfruit is very healthy, full of antioxidants, essential omegas, amino acids, and fiber. I found a frozen Açaí berry puree in Wegmans, and it is also available in Whole Foods. This mixture also contains a small amount of guaraná, a Brazilian fruit about the size of a coffee berry, known as an energy booster since it contains more than twice the amount of caffeine as in a typical coffee bean.
Açaí na tigela is essentially a smoothie in a bowl, and is commonly topped with granola and fruits. To make two large servings of Açaí na tigela, I blended 4 packs of Açaí berry puree with 2 bananas and about 4 tablespoons of orange juice.
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In my Brazilian prize basket, I received Soytoast, special soy nuts, and Granola Integral, a granola made with sugarcane syrup, muscavo sugar, dehydrated fruits, wheat germ and Brazil nuts. These soy nuts and granola were perfect toppings for my Açaí bowl. Altogether, this was a delicious and healthy breakfast!
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If you hunger for more than the Açaí bowl, I also prepared a decadent parfait made with two more ingredients from Brazil - dried mango and Sagu:
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Sagu is a traditional Brazilian dessert made from pearl tapiocas. It reminded us of the Bubble Gum dessert we enjoyed recently at Alinea. At Alinea, Bubble Gum was served in a glass tube filled with layers of hibiscus, crème fraîche, and bubble gum flavored tapiocas. In my version, I used layers of thinly sliced dried mango, vanilla yogurt, and raspberry flavored tapiocas. You can serve this parfait for breakfast or dessert, in a glass tube or in a regular glass. Enjoy!
