Any curious food lover who has spent time in Rio de Janeiro likely returned home with a craving for açai: an Amazon fruit most commonly enjoyed as a smooth, deep indigo frozen beverage with an velveteen sheen. Now it seems Olympic athletes will too. US women’s soccer forward Alex Morgan, diver David Boudia and Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan have all broadcast their love of the Brazilian delicacy, made from açai.
“It’s a big part of our diet here,” Morgan
What is açai — and how do you actually say it?
Açai, which grows on palm trees in the flooded regions of the Amazon, just might be one of the world’s most misunderstood fruits, beginning with its proper pronunciation: ah-SIGH-ee. The fruit is actually not a berry, but a a stone fruit (also known as a drupe). Açai is approximately the size of a blueberry, and mostly comprised of a hard, stone-like seed. That seed is surrounded by a thin, lime-green layer of omega-rich fats and covered with a deep indigo-colored skin—a source of antioxidants. Even in Rio, where açai smoothies are available at corner stands all over the city, most people have never seen the fruit in its whole state. Because it’s highly perishable, açai fruit is soaked, separated from its seed, and processed as frozen pulp for export to markets outside the Amazon as soon as its picked.
But that hasn’t impeded its popularity. In Rio it is traditionally blended with guarana, a fruit-derived syrup that adds sweetness and a caffeinated kick to the otherwise subtle tasting fruit. (In the Amazon, açai puree is unsweetened, and topped with puffy pieces of tapioca.) As açai has spread to North America and beyond, so has the popularity of the açai bowl: a layered, multi-textured meal with frozen açai puree as its base, which appears to be the choice breakfast of Olympic champions. US women’s soccer coach Jill Ellis joked that the team consumed some 20 bowls before their victory against France earlier this month. (No word on what the team ate before their loss to Sweden.)
Brazilian favourite
Acaí and banana bavaroise
How to make it
You don’t have to go all the way to Brazil — or even to an overpriced juice press — to try açai. You can buy frozen packets of açai pulp that you can drop into your blender at home. The “original style” pulp from , a company that imports organic and fair-trade açai to the US — which includes that sweet guaraná extract — was the closest I came to a Rio-style juice stand açai upon my own return home from Brazil . I prefer mine blended with banana, honey, ice, and a splash of milk or water, but recipes abound. of frozen pulp in the blender add a little bit of fresh or frozen fruit (bananas and berries are popular choices), a splash of juice, milk, or water, and let the blender rip. To make your smoothie into a proper açai bowl, try adding layered toppings such as sliced strawberries, shredded coconut, and granola — as — or find more adventurous inspiration on Sambazon’s website, where ingredients and add protein and flavor to the açai base, while toppings like hemp seeds, cashews, and cacao nibs add texture. If you’re a visual person, you mightplace all these layers in a jar and take a picture.
Or just make a bowl very pretty.
go bowling
Sweet couscous seffa
