Cajuína

the clear, amber, gently sweet juice of the cashew apple, clarified and heat-set until it gleams like glass, the heritage soft drink of Piauí and Ceará in the cashew's own homeland

Origin: Brazil (Ceará and Piauí)

From the journey of Cashew.

Cajuína is the drink of the cashew's birthplace, and it is made not from the famous nut but from the other, perishable half of the tree's gift: the cashew apple, the swollen red and yellow pseudofruit, juicy, sweet, and mouth-puckeringly astringent. In the north-east of Brazil, above all in Piauí and Ceará, the fresh apples are pressed, and the cloudy, tannic juice is then clarified, traditionally with the cashew's own settling agents, and gently heat-treated until it turns brilliantly clear and a deep, glowing amber, sweet and softly caramelised, with the astringency tamed. The result is a still, non-alcoholic drink of great refinement, served chilled, that has become a symbol of the region; it is recognised as part of Brazil's cultural heritage, and it was immortalised by Caetano Veloso in the song that bears its name. This recipe gives a home cook's route to the same clear, glowing drink, using gelatine or a fine filtering to clarify the juice and a slow heat to set and caramelise it.

Ingredients

2 litres fresh cashew-apple juice (from about 3kg ripe cashew apples), or bottled caju juice
150 g sugar, or to taste (less if using sweetened bottled juice)
3 sheets leaf gelatine, or 1 lightly beaten egg white, for clarifying (optional)

Method

If starting from fresh apples, press the cashew apples and strain the juice through a fine cloth. Let it settle in the fridge for several hours, then carefully pour off the clearer juice from the sediment.
To clarify, warm the juice gently and either whisk in gelatine softened in cold water, or whisk in a beaten egg white; as the juice heats, the proteins gather the haze. Strain again through a fine cloth until the juice runs clear.
Pour the clarified juice into a wide pan, add the sugar, and bring to a bare simmer. Cook very gently, uncovered, skimming any froth, for an hour or more, until the liquid has turned a clear, glowing amber and tastes lightly caramelised and rounded.
Pour the hot cajuína into sterilised bottles, seal, and allow to cool. Some cooks set the sealed bottles in a warm oven or water bath for a time to deepen the colour further.
Chill thoroughly and serve cold, in small glasses, as a refreshing soft drink.

Notes

Fresh cashew apples are almost impossible to find outside the tropics, as they spoil within a day of picking; bottled or frozen caju (cashew-apple) juice, sold in Brazilian and Latin American shops, is the practical substitute and gives an excellent result. The clarifying step can be skipped for a rustic, cloudier drink, but the clear amber gleam is the hallmark of true cajuína.

The Gastrographer

Name: Cajuína
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Brazil
Ingredients: 2 litres fresh cashew-apple juice (from about 3kg ripe cashew apples), or bottled caju juice; 150 g sugar, or to taste (less if using sweetened bottled juice); 3 sheets leaf gelatine, or 1 lightly beaten egg white, for clarifying (optional)

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control