The "Magic" Pitanga - A New Book from Brazil

The delightful Brazilian fruit called pitanga has been covered previously on Flavors of Brazil. (Click here to read more.) Its versatility and utility are well-known to Brazilian cooks and chefs, and it's one of those fruits that suits both savory and sweet dishes. It also is used as an ingredient in health and beauty products - in Brazil and increasingly outside the country.

Recently Brazilian publisher Optionline launched a book entirely dedicated to this little red berry, entitled Pitanga Mágica (Magic Pitanga). The author is Luiz Grossman, an agricultural engineer from São Paulo state, who has studied pitanga for more than ten years at an experimental farm in the city of Ibiúna. There he cultivates more than 25,000 pitanga trees for his research purposes.

Professor Grossman says that even after such a long time studying this fruit, he is still learning about new properties of the pitanga. "It's a marvelous and unique plant," he says. "We have been doing laboratory tests in the labs of USP (Universidade de São Paulo)...This plant has uses in cooking, in cosmetics and in health. The essential oils from pitanga leaves contain substances found in no other plant."

In cosmetics, the pitanga has important use in anti-acne creams and aids in facial revitalizing lotions and creams. A simple tea brewed from pitanga leaves can aid in combating fevers and gastrointestinal problems as well as rheumatic pains. Pitanga is rich in lycopene, a carotene that is also found in tomatoes, watermelons and papayas and which has been shown to have valuable antioxidant properties.

The book, which is in Portuguese, can be purchased online from Brazilian bookstore, Livraria Cultura and costs R$50 (about USD $30). (Direct link here.)Incidentally, all proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Unibes, the Brazilo-Israeli Social Welfare Union.

Professor Grossman feels that the pitanga has symbolic importance among Brazilian fruits. The book is subtitled "The most Brazilian fruit - in cooking, cosmetics and health." Grossman says, "The Pitanga is the emblematic fruit of Brazil, since it will bear fruit in any backyard in the country, in any region." Whether one comes across the pitanga in a salad dressing, a jam or jelly, a face cream, or a tea bag, one is consuming just a bit of Brazil along with that little red berry. All hail the mighty pitanga.

RECIPE - Pitanga Jam

As I mentioned in my previous post on the Brazilian fruit called pitanga, most of the crop in Brazil is eaten fresh or the fruit is turned into juice. One other common use, however, is in the production of jams and jellies, where the pitanga can be put to very good use with spectacular results. Pitanga jam is not highly commercialized, even here in Brazil, but I have bought small jars in roadside fruit stands, or in shops which carry artesanal foods.

I was unable to find a good recipe for pitanga jam in any of my regular Brazilian recipe sources. I did want to add one to Flavors of Brazil, and by searching on the internet under one of the English names of this fruit, Surinam Cherry, I found an interesting recipe from Africa in a blog called African Kitchen. I am publishing the recipe here adapted from that blog. I have not made nor tested this recipe, but I will do so in the near future. It sounds wonderful.
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RECIPE - Pitanga Jam

6 cups fresh pitangas, washed, halved and seeded
2-3 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice (or lime juice)

Combine all ingredients and cook slowly over low heat until the mixture is soft and thickened. Mash with potato masher to break up the fruit. Cool, then refrigerate. Alternatively, the jam can be processed for longer storage, using conventional canning techniques.

Pitanga fruit - An exotic beauty

As those that visit this blog with any regularity know, one of the pleasures I have in producing Flavors of Brazil is introducing readers to the rainbow of tropic fruits that is one of the glories of the world of Brazilian food. In previous posts, I've discussed such fruits as ata, caju, cajá and many others, and when possible have searched my photo collection and internet image galleries for photographs that highlight the colors and textures of these fruits. In this blog, I cannot give readers samples of the aromas or tastes of these tropical fruits, but I can offer photos to appeal to the readers' eyes.

If there were a Miss Brazil Fruit contest, it would be difficult to choose a winner as the most beautiful of the bunch. I do think that native Brazilian fruit called pitanga, if not crowned the winner, would be a likely First Runner-Up. It's spectacularly beautiful in shape, texture and color. And, as luck would have it, it's delicious as well. The only problem with the pitanga is that in its mature state it's extremely delicate, and therefore cannot be commercialized internationally. Think of the raspberry and how it suffers from handling and transportation. The pitanga suffers exactly the same indignities. So while you in North America or Europe can revel in fresh raspberries, we here in Brazil will make due with delectable fresh pitangas, pitanga juice, pitanga jam, or pitanga liquor (to which some sources attribute aphrodisiac properties.)

The pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) is native to Brazil's Mata Atlântica, the rain forest which once covered most of coastal Brazil  now sadly diminished by deforestation.  It has been successfully transplanted, and can be found today in other parts of South America, in Africa, on the Portuguese island of Madeira and in the Caribbean, where it is generally known in English as Brazil Cherry, Suriname Cherry, or Cayenne Cherry. It is only distantly related to the cherry botanically.

Pitanga is a very heathful fruit, having a high vitamin C content, as well as high levels of calcium. Most of the pitanga eaten in Brazil is consumed fresh, or is pulped into juice. Wonderful jams and jellies can also be made from pitanga, and though I have not tried it, I have located quite a few recipes for pitanga liquor on the internet.

The flavor of this fruit is sharp and acidic, but the relatively high level of sugars means that it is not particularly tart. When making pitanga juice, either from fresh fruit or from frozen pulp, Brazilians tend to add a good quantity of sugar, but I find that it often needs very little additional sugar. The juice is very refreshing, and pitanga juice is an excellent "waker-upper" in the morning, or a true thist-quencher on a hot afternoon.