Comments on: You heard it here: the hot trend is cupuaçu (?)

By: FG_2009

FG_2009 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:20:33 +0000

I am from Brazil and I had the puree and the ice-cream several times. It tastes a little bit tart, so I am sure they will have to adapt to the american palate. There are so many other tropical fruits from the Amazon besides cupuaçu, it seems that marketers are discovering tropical fruits and bringing to the US to find the big hit.

I am sure the Brazilian fruits are in the “good for you” category, but it seems that people are exagerating the good aspects of the fruits with “miracle” effects… I guess better fruit than Coke with Vitamins…

By: The Conscious Life

The Conscious Life — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:47:31 +0000

Sweet potato and other everyday stuff like broccoli and ginger are potent anti-inflammatory foods. We don't need marketers to tell us what to eat. All of us will do a lot better by eating vegetables and fruits of different shades and colors everyday.

By: Peg

Peg — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:47:40 +0000

Right on, Jenna! Apples, carrots, kale, purple cabbage, blueberries, spinach, broccoli, raspberries, tomatoes, winter squash, black beans, parsley, strawberries–diverse phytocompound-rich superfoods grow in great variety wherever people live.

Common garden weeds (dandelion, lamb’s quarters, nettles, pigweed, purslane) and wild fruits such as elderberry, blackberries, and the invasive autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) produce even more protective phytocompounds. (e.g., USDA research has shown that autumn olive berries contain 18 times the lycopene of tomatoes. Plus, they’re delicious and make fabulous jam.)

Plants can’t move, so they have to manufacture their own chemical defenses against excess photoradiation, free radicals, pathogens, and predators. Evidence is mounting that animals (including humans) expropriate many similar protective benefits when they eat a lot of plant foods, especially when they eat the whole food rather than as a drink, an extract, or a pill.

The problem: getting people to eat more and a greater diversity of readily available vegetables and fruits. But nobody wins big grants or makes big bucks running around teaching people to eat more vegetables or forage for wild fruits.

By: Paul Gepts

Paul Gepts — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:36:07 +0000

Being of the genus Theobroma, cupuaçu is related to chocolate, not coffee. It does contain caffeine-like compounds, such as theobromine, which is found in chocolate.

By: B. Koch

B. Koch — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:29:05 +0000

Any one who has studied and used herbs knows the value of these foods and spices. It’s a shame the scientists are just discovering what herblists have known for thousands of years. It will be a steep learning curve!

By: Nibbles: Cupuaçu, Policies

Nibbles: Cupuaçu, Policies — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:42:11 +0000

[...] Say hello to cupuaçu, the Next Big Thing. [...]

By: Ellie

Ellie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:33:11 +0000

I strolled into my local big box store the other day and was assaulted by strategically placed Acai super drink video promo displays. I chuckled a bit at first, then got upset that such nonsensical claims could be foisted upon us.

By: Cathy Richards

Cathy Richards — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:49:54 +0000

does anyone know if it has caffeine?

By: K.

K. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:42:37 +0000

Rose water, cardamom and hibiscus? So, Mediterranean desserts are about to become popular? Can’t complain about that. (Also can’t complain if it means I can get rose water without having to order it online!)

That said, if these are the new neutraceuticals, the craze continues to amuse. (Although at least with “Latin spices”, there’s a chance that things will be used in a holistic approach that might actually harness their health benefits.)

By: Jesse

Jesse — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:17:06 +0000

I’ve had it in Brazil where it’s drunk as juice or eaten with a spoon, in a thick, creamy, frozen puree (the same way acai is typically consumed there). Also like acai, in Brazil it’s just another delicious tropical fruit – not a miracle product. In Brazil I was always told it was related to cacao, not coffee, and it is similar in appearance and flavor to the cacao fruit: sweet, creamy, very complex with some slightly funky undertones. Definitely an acquired taste – although I’m sure it will taste like pure sugar in what ever form it takes when it’s finally marketed here.

Also, it’s pronounced koo-poo-ah-SOO.