Sunday, June 24, 2012

Creme Papaia from Brazil

Waiters swiftly swirled platters around my table, placing slices of different cuts of meat on my plate. Their visits were constant and seemingly endless, and even educational--I had not been introduced, I thought, to so many different types of meat--and certainly not in that fashion. At times, they brought large chunks of meat on a skewer, and then sliced off very thin pieces with large, sharp knives. When I was full, I turned over a card that said "No more, thanks".
I was in a Brazilian steakhouse (churrascaria, barbecue) in Costa Rica; at the time, there wasn't one where I lived. It was a meat lovers' paradise. My favorite part of the dinner, however, would be the creamy dessert topped by the fruity cassis liqueur--it was unforgettable. The foamy mixture of papaya and ice cream was decorated and slightly flattened by the stream of purple, berry-flavored liqueur that was poured in front of me.




June 12th is Valentine's Day in Brazil. They call it Dia de los Namorados, or Lovers' Day, as it is the eve of St. Anthony's Day, the patron saint of marriage.

Lorena de Garcia's Recipe
1 pint of vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups skim milk
 1 oz. creme de cassis (currant liqueur)
1 1/2 cups ripe papaya, peeled and diced
Place all ingredients except for the creme de cassis in your blender. Once they are mixed, pour them into 4 serving glasses or dishes and pour a little bit of creme de cassis on top, in the center. 
Some people use yogurt instead of ice cream. I have not tried this variation yet--when I do, I will post my results here.

References
http://www.cheflorenagarcia.com/page/crme-de-papaya-topped-with-liquor-de-cassis

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