Citrus Deficiencies

I have by now pretty much become accustomed to, and accepting of, the various differences between Brasil and the U.S. Oh, I can still go off once in a while about the Velveeta-like stuff that is called Cheddar cheese, but I´ve made my peace with a couple of acceptable substitutes that are readily available.

Although I generally abhor proselytizing, let me just remind you "what a friend we have in Cheeses." (I don´t care how old that is or how many times you´ve heard me say it; I like it and that´s that.)

Brasil has some citrus peculiarities that I may never have mentioned. Limes are omnipresent, not exactly a dime a dozen, but close. Lemons, on the other hand, are relatively rare. Most supermarkets don´t have them and, those that do, aren´t giving them away. Grapefruit are almost unheard of. I was reminded of that last week when I discovered them for the first time since I´ve been in Brasil at our neighborhood market, which is more upscale than most. I don´t know if is a seasonal thing or if they always have them, but I've been eating them for breakfast since I found them, on the assumption that one day they'll all be gone. When I asked Heitor the Brazilian name for them, he didn't even know. (After tasting one, he didn´t care what they were called, nor that they are hard to find.) My on-line translator has a name for them, but the market doesn't even bother with it; the market just calls them grapefruit. Now that I´ve discovered them I can´t help but wish I could find packaged grapefruit juice. I don´t have my hopes up.

Obviously lemons and grapefruit would both grow here. At least it seems to me that anywhere oranges grow should be hospitable to lemons and grapefruit too. Actually I know lemons grow here because one of our friends brings them to us from her uncle's farm in the interior of São Paulo state. According to wikipedia, Brasil does produce grapefruit in the south of the country, but only 1% as many as does the U.S., which is the world leader. Argentina produces 10 times as many.

Fruit juices are very popular here. Almost every block has a place where you can buy fresh juices. Mixtures of orange juice with some other fruit juice are common. And some of the popular fruits used for juice are hardly less sour or tart than grapefruit, and what mixes better with orange juice than grapefruit? I am not sure if it is absolutely necessary in all places, but I learned early to specify "no sugar" when ordering juice because the addition of sugar seemed to be the norm, even with orange juice. So....since Brazilians are used to sweetened fruit juices, how come they haven´t developed a taste for my favorite one?

Oh, well, I guess there are more important things going on in the world.

Tchau