Hey, Baby, Nice Batido You Got There!
A Batido is what you get in Miami when you want a cool drink that is fruity and energizing.
A Batido as dispensed in little joints all over that sizzling town is a blended drink with a choice of one of many tropical and other fruits, milk, and ice, sweetened with sugar, all zipped together in a blender. For those who want Batido chapter and verse click on this. And, while you're waiting for your Batido, throw a few shekels down for a little thimble full of sweetened fresh made espresso. Cuba Libre!
So to put it simply, a Batido is like a milk shake. The ice in the blender cools it way down. Ice, that is if you are using fresh fruit not frozen, or want to thin the Batido down a bit. Alright, and it's just like a smoothie, but for the addition of milk.
But Cooky Cat is not about to be telling you the academics of Batidos. Just trying to do the research to include the definitive list of tropical fruits, frankly drove him fruity. Go Google, fella. And, besides, who the heck is reading this stuff anyway. It's not like Oprah and her gang are hanging on Cooky Cat's every word. (Yet!) He be telling about wherefore art thou going to fetch those fruits. Expecially, those tropical varieties. No need to be going down to Rio with Fred and Ginger and the gang. Just scoot over to any store that merchandizes Hispanic products. Find the frozen section and for a few bucks or so each get 14 ounce packages of any number of frozen tropical fruit pulps. We are suggesting frozen fruits since the more exotic types are not always or usually available as fresh.
Besides, with the packaged varieties the work is done for you. All you have to do is place a half of a package (7 ounces or so) broken into small pieces into a typical size blender, add milk to three quarters full, 4-5 teaspoons of cane sugar, and blend. Notice we did not add ice. Well, silly, because the fruta is frozen. Capicé , Italiane? Alright, do it like in Miami, add some ice. It will be a little thinner which is fine. Commercially, the ice keeps the costs down. (Like at the movie house when you get that fountain soda and the cup is loaded first with ice. Our workaround, tell them no, or little ice. The stuff comes out cold to begin with. But, then again, we are not recommending any soft drink or any other drink, or foodstuff for that matter, that is loaded with high-fructose corn syrup. That stuff doesn't register in your system the same way good old fashioned cane sugar do. So you drink and drink; and over time you're as big as a house. And also, cane sugar, please. That beet sugar don't have the taste. Or, it has a taste Cooky Cat don't like. Have you ever driven through a town in the USA where sugar beets are processed for sugar? Second on the yuck scale to being down wind from a cattle holding facility.)
Excuse the digression. If you are a Cooky Cat kind of person you will appreciate the extras. So, you're welcome.
Of course, fresh is best. And, besides, if you go fresh then any number of other fruits are fair game. Your taste dictates.
Tropical Fruit of the Moment: Passion Fruit (Parcha / Maracuya)
Other Things to Try to Add Passion. . . Fruit
Besides in a Batido, you can please your parched pucker upper with a Parcha Caipirinha. Stress the "p" in there and say "k-eye-PER-eenya" to get the most alliterative action at all. Just muddle 2-3 ice cube size chunks of passion fruit pulp with two teaspoons of cane sugar in the bottom of a sturdy medium size glass tumbler (Cooky Cat prefers the Waterford Crystal 12 ounce "Lismore" Double Old Fashioned Glass; or nothing). Fill with cracked ice, then finish with a couple of shots of any old Cachaça you have laying around the bar. Saúde!
Attention: Cooky Cat has sometimes been accused of irrelevancies. Au contraire, mon ami! He expects that his missives will get a close reading. Each and every one! When you do your due diligence to his beneficent and munificent utterances, then you will have a firm grasp of the obvious as to how the pieces fit together to make a whole. As one has said, there are many cooks (who can put things together), but few chefs (who can make them work; nay, dance together.) Herr Cat is all too obviously one of the latter; in the kitchen and on the page.
Behold . . .
Obviously, there is a bit of a Brazilero vibe in the foregoing. Yes, Cooky Cat considers himself to be a true Carioca. So, to keep the party going . . .
