Caruru () is a Brazilian food made from

okra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

and toasted nuts (

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s and/or

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

s). It is a typical

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...

in the northeastern state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

, where it is commonly eaten with ''

acarajé Àkàrà (Yoruba)(English: Bean cake Hausa: kosai, Portuguese: Acarajé () is a type of fritter made from cowpeas or beans (black eye peas). It is found throughout West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines. The dish is traditionally encoun ...

'', an

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

made from mashed

black-eyed pea The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea. The common commer ...

s formed into a ball and then deep-fried in palm oil.''"Caruru, o prato afro-indígena mais antigo e popular"'' - por Guta Chaves, para a Revista História Viva, nº 20, pg. 15. Editora Duetto (junho 2005)FERREIRA, A. B. H. ''Novo dicionário da língua portuguesa''. 2ª edição. Rio de Janeiro. Nova Fronteira. 1986. p. 361.

Etymology

"Caruru" comes from the African term kalalu. Another possibility is that it is a Tupi noun, caá-laughu, the eating herb, as defined by Câmara Cascudo. It is a curious case of similar words, which generates some confusion between the plant and the dish.

Origin

Guilherme Piso, who lived in Pernambuco (1638-1644), reports the caruru made with medicinal and food herb (and not with okra). In his story in Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, the doctor from Count Maurício de Nassau informs that "this bredo (caruru) is eaten as a vegetable and cooked instead of spinach ...". Another account, in 1820, in the Amazon, by Von Martius, mentions the "caruru-açu" during a meal with the natives near the Madeira River, when he experienced "a delicacy of chestnuts pounded with an herb similar to spinach ..." . In other words: this description is of a caruru made with the caruru plant, originally from the Americas (and not from Africa, which is the case of okra). For the dish, the cuisine of Dahome Nagô, from Yoruba Nigeria, and indigenous from Bahia would have been combined. During his visit to Africa, at the end of the 18th century, Father Vicente Ferreira Pires called the meal in Daomé "chicken caruru", revealing that the use of oil palm, a palm of African origin. Originally, the Brazilian caruru was a stew of herbs that served to accompany another dish (meat or fish). The current version of the caruru, however, is more African than indigenous, being made with okra, chili, dried shrimp and palm oil.Viagem pelo Brasil 1817-1820: Excertos e Ilustrações. Johann Baptist Von Spix; Carl Friedrich Philipp Von Martius. Título original: ''Reise in Brasilien''.

References

Brazilian cuisine Condiments Shrimp dishes Okra dishes {{Brazil-cuisine-stub

Etymology

Origin

See also

References