What is Acai?
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
In August, of 2008, I moved to Belem, Brazil where I was introduced to what became my favorite fruit… ACAI!
Like most people living in the United States in 2008, I had never heard of Acai. Back then there were not companies that were adding it to their chocolate or juice products. It was not yet used as a marketing tool to make common consumer goods seem mystical.
Anyway, since I averaged eating Acai once a week for two years, I consider myself somewhat of an authority on the subject. With that stated, let me tell you a little about the fruit.
Acai grows on tall, thin palm-type trees in wet areas of the amazon. The fruit itself grows in bunches, or clusters as can be seen in the picture. Notice that the fruit is green when immature. It turns dark purple when it is ripe.
Although it is referred to as a berry, it is nothing like a blueberry, for example. It is not a juicy fruit with a soft inside. In fact, the inside or center of the fruit is a big pit, or seed. To give you an idea of how big this seed is; I would say that 90% of the fruit is the non-edible center. The edible part is a thin purple shell on the outside of the seed.
Now, Acai is very hard and cannot be eaten right off the tree. To eat this fruit, it must first be soaked in water for a long time to soften the outer shell. It is then put into a canister with a mixing paddle, where the fruit is churned. In the churning process the individual berries grind up against each other causing the edible part to detach from the center seed. Below is a picture of this process. While the Acai is being churned 
water is poured on top of it. The water rinses the pulp away from the seed and comes out the bottom of the little machine in a thick pudding-like form.
Now, thick Acai is much better and costs a lot more. Keep in mind that when I say it cost a lot more I am refering to $5 Brazilian Reais compared to $3. But, in a third-world part of Brazil, it makes a difference.
Some locals eat Acai every day as a part of their lunch. They don’t drink it, but rather mix it with farinha. Others mix it with Tapioca. However, in my opinion, their is only one way to eat Acai, and that is with farinha and a TON of sugar! Without sugar, Acai tastes like dirt. With sugar Acai is amazing! Like I mentioned before, while living in Northern Brazil for two years I would eat Acai as frequent as possible. I love it! I crave it! and I miss it!
In ending, if you would like to experience what Acai actually tastes like, then there is only one product in the United States that tastes like real Acai, and that is Organic Acai Sorbet made by Sambazon.
Tchau!
