Where does Cajuína (golden cashew-apple drink) come from?
Cajuína comes from north-eastern Brazil, from the states of Ceará and Piauí. This clear, golden, alcohol-free drink is made from the juice of the cashew apple and was created in the 1890s by Rodolfo Teófilo, a pharmacist and writer in Fortaleza.
A pharmacist's answer to cachaça
Teófilo grew up in Fortaleza, qualified as a pharmacist in 1875 and ran a pharmacy before teaching natural science. He also wrote novels about the droughts and hunger of the north-east. In the 1890s he developed a way to clarify cashew juice, and by his own account he wanted the drink to fight alcoholism: he saw it as a harmless substitute for cachaça. Cashew drinks were much older, though: Indigenous peoples of the region had long made drinks from the cashew apple.
Clear, bottled and cooked
To make cajuína, juice is pressed from ripe cashew apples and clarified, today usually with food-grade gelatin; in the past some makers used the sap of the cashew tree instead. The clear juice is filtered through cotton cloth or felt and poured into bottles, which are sealed and heated in a water bath. The heat sterilises the drink, so it keeps for a long time, and caramelises the juice's natural sugars, which gives cajuína its amber-yellow colour.
Why people think of India
India is one of the world's biggest cashew producers, and Indian cooks use cashews whole in sweets and curries or ground into sauces such as korma, so many people link cashews with India. But the nuts travel far more than the fruit: cashew apples bruise easily and keep only briefly. Producers in Ceará and Piauí both claim cajuína, and Brazil's heritage institute, IPHAN, has made its traditional making in Piauí part of the country's intangible heritage.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Cajuína ↗ · pt.wikipedia.org › Cajuína ↗ · mais.opovo.com.br ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Cashew ↗ · pt.wikipedia.org › Rodolfo Teófilo ↗
