Ingredients
Fruit
- 1.5 kgripe butiá palm fruit
- 400 gsugar
Spirit
- 1 litrecaña, 40%
Optional
- 1cinnamon stick
- a few cloves
Directions
- Gather the butiá when it has fallen or comes away at a touch, deep orange and fragrant. Picked green it is astringent and no amount of sugar will fix it.
- Wash the fruit and dry it, then bruise each one lightly with the flat of a knife to split the skin.
- Leave the stones in. Butiá stones give the almond and marzipan note that makes this drink what it is, and stoning the fruit is both pointless labour and a loss of flavour.
- Layer the fruit and sugar in a wide-mouthed jar, filling it three-quarters, and leave two days in a warm place until the sugar draws out syrup.
- Pour the caña over to cover the fruit by 3 cm, add the spices if using, and seal.
- Keep in a dark cupboard for three months, shaking the jar every few days for the first fortnight, then leaving it alone.
- Three months is the working minimum. The fruit is fibrous and gives up its flavour slowly, and a jar strained at six weeks tastes thin and raw.
- Strain through muslin without pressing the fruit. Pressing forces through fibre and pulp that clouds the bottle and settles out as sludge.
- Taste and sweeten further with sugar dissolved in a little of the liquid if you want.
- Bottle and rest a month more. Serve cool in small glasses after dinner. It keeps for years and darkens to deep amber.
Technique
- Ripe fallen fruit only, stones left in.
- Three months minimum, in the dark.
- Strain without pressing.
Substitutions
- Grappa or cachaça in place of caña.
- Frozen butiá pulp, sold in Rocha, if fresh fruit is out of season.
- Loquat or quince, which steep similarly if there is no butiá at all.
Variations
- Butiá liqueur made with a sugar syrup rather than dry sugar, which is sweeter and thicker.
- The strained fruit is eaten with ice cream, and it is very strong.
History
Made in Rocha, home to the world’s largest butia palm groves; the fruit macerates in cana for months before bottling.
Frequently asked questions
What is Caña con butiá?
Caña con butiá is a wine & spirit from Uruguay: cane spirit steeped with butia palm fruit, amber and sweet. Made in Rocha, home to the world’s largest butia palm groves; the fruit macerates in cana for months before bottling.
How long does Caña con butiá take to make?
Caña con butiá takes 30 min plus 3 months steeping of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Caña con butiá?
Yes, within limits. Grappa or cachaça in place of caña. Frozen butiá pulp, sold in Rocha, if fresh fruit is out of season. Loquat or quince, which steep similarly if there is no butiá at all.
