Like the coronavirus, the Spanish flu hit Brazil hard a century ago. At that time, Caipirinha, the most famous cocktail in the country, was considered a powerful remedy to deal with the dreaded disease.
At that time, a popular drink consisting of honey, garlic and lemon was used to fight the common flu.But in 1918, with the arrival of the Spanish flu in the country, the home remedy was sought to have a greater “therapeutic effect” and to be supplemented with cachaça, the cane liqueur produced in Brazil, which was then used for these purposes.
According to Professor Jairo Martins da Silva, a cachaça scientist with more than 25 years of experience in the field, the prescription of home remedies based on herbs, fruits and alcohol was part of the recipe book of folk medicine of the time, and doctors were does not oppose its use.
“During the Spanish flu, it was a widely used remedy, so much so that to this day lemon, honey and garlic are widely used to reduce the cold,” he told EFE.
Its name and popularity
About two years later, when the Spanish flu pandemic ended, honey was replaced with sugar and garlic was replaced with ice due to Brazil’s warm climate.
The name that made the Brazilian cocktail par excellence popular would come at that time inspired by the inhabitants of the rural area of Sao Paulo, where it was invented – Caipirinha, comes from “caipiras”, as the peasants are known in that region. of the country-.
“When the Spanish flu ended, more or less in 1920, it began to be called Caipirinha, a name that was consolidated in February 1922 during Modern Art Week,” Martins noted.
Several versions agree that the culprit for the popularity of Brazilian beverage was the Brazilian artist Tarsila de Amaral, recognized worldwide for being one of the leading exponents of modernism in Latin America.
Her artist and husband, poet and writer Oswald de Andrade, liked to promote elements of Brazilian gastronomy, such as Caipirinha, in their travels.
Amaral was unable to attend the so-called “22nd Week”, but Caipirinha was promoted there by her husband and some of the participants, who had already had their advantages in the French capital, where the Brazilian artist began to be popularized.
Cachaça, Caipirina’s soul
Cachaça, the soul of the popular Caipirinha, is currently the most consumed distilled beverage in Brazil and the third in the world, according to the Brazilian Institute of Cachaça (Ibrac).
six types of cachaça: pure, sugary, stored, aged, premium and extra premium. However, because there are almost 40 types of aging and storage wood, there are more than 150 types of this drink.
In addition to Brazil, Germany is one of its biggest fans, as it is responsible for buying 25% of the cachaça exported by the South American country.