So I bought a cacao fruit. Why? Because I’m in Brazil and I can. For the past month outside of the Santa Cruz Shopping, I’ve spotted a man selling this red and orange wonder along with jaca and cupuaçu. I’ve seen jaca (jackfruit) grow on trees here at Parque da Luz, but cupuaçu and cacao are pretty much northern Brazilian fruits. When I finally stopped to get one, I found they were absurdly priced. But I had been scoping them out for weeks now, so dammit, I was getting my cacao. I bought the small one, about the size of an acorn squash, and carried it around in my purse for the rest of the day.

I’ve had cacao juice blended with milk years ago when I was in Salvador. (Note: It is not chocolatey in the least, but rather citric and tart.) I wanted to figure out how to get the juice…