Homemade juice is what goes out at a churrasco. These two sucos go in before the fire; they sit in pitchers next to water and guaraná soda (guaraná).
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A. Suco de maracujá
Passion fruit is Passiflora edulis. In Brazil the homemade pot is pulp, cold water, and sugar. Fresh wrinkled fruit is ideal. In a US store the reliable buy is frozen pulp from a Latin market.
This is a home pot, a conservative 1-liter jarra, not a restaurant concentrate.
Ingredients (1-liter jarra, maracujá)
- Pulp of 4 to 6 passion fruits, or 200 to 250 g (7 to 9 oz) frozen pulp
- 1 liter (4 cups) cold water
- Sugar to taste, starting at 4 to 6 tablespoons (4 to 6 colheres de sopa/ 60 to 90 ml)
- Halve the fruit and scoop the pulp, seeds and all.
- Stir or blend briefly with the cold water and the starting sugar.
- Strain or leave the seeds. Both are authentic.
- Taste and add sugar only if the pot is too sharp. Serve ice-cold.
B. Limonada/ limeade
Brazilian churrasco tables often have suco de limão. The lime is limão taiti, the same Persian lime used for caipirinha, not a giant lemon.
A distinct homemade Brazilian version is limonada suíça: limes blended briefly with ice, water, sugar, and a little sweetened condensed milk.
Ingredients (1-liter jarra, limonada)
- 4 Persian limes, ends cut off and the white pith considered (remove the thick core so it does not go bitter)
- 1 liter (4 cups) cold water
- 4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (4 to 6 colheres de sopa/ 60 to 90 ml)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (3 to 4 colheres de sopa/ 45 to 60 ml)
- Blend a short pulse only. Strain. Serve over ice.
- A long blend tears the peel and turns the pitcher bitter.
Plain limeade without condensed milk is also honest. Juice the same 4 Persian limes into 1 liter (4 cups) of cold water, start with 4 to 6 tablespoons (60 to 90 ml) of sugar, and chill. A handheld citrus juicer is the tool for that version. Still cut the ends and watch the pith if any peel goes in the blender.
How you know it is done
Serve ice-cold. Serve over ice. They hold.
Make-ahead
Both pitchers go in before the chimney is lit. They hold.
What to buy
The fruit is grocery. The tool is a citrus juicer so the pitcher is ready before the chimney is lit. Mid is the usual mid.
- Low: OXO Good Grips Small citrus juicer — enough juice for limeade or one glass.
- Usual mid: Chef’n FreshForce citrus juicer — more juice per lime, the usual mid.
- High: Hamilton Beach citrus juicer — a named electric press when you are filling a pitcher before the chimney.
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