Garapa

:"Guarapo" redirects here. For the palm-tree sap also known as guarapo, see Miel de palma"Garapa (var. Guarapa) is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the juice of raw sugar cane (in some Southern states garapa is better known as "caldo de cana" (cane juice). Also known as "guarapo" or "guarapo de caña" in Spanish, it is a very popular drink in several countries of tropical Latin America and among Latin American communities in Southern Florida. Sugar cane juice is especially popular among the Cuban expatriate community in Miami, where it is found in abundance at many locations in Little Havana. Sugar cane juice is obtained by crushing peeled sugar cane in a small hand- or electric mill. The drink is often served cold with a squeeze of lemon (in Cuba and Brazil), pineapple (Brazil), maracuja, or ginger. Due to its high sugar content it is rich in calories. Garapa juice is the primary source of sugar cane derivatives such as raw sugar (obtained by evaporation and refining), cachaça or "caninha" and ethanol.

Etymology

The origin of the word is unclear. There are two hypotheses:

# African origin, it means "fermented drink" in West Africa, and was brought into Brazil and the rest of Latin America by slaves from Cabo Verde islands, then to the Madeira islands.
# Tupí-Guaraní origin, from guarab, meaning a fermented drink laced with honey

In Brazilian Portuguese, garapa is also used figuratively as meaning a good thing, easy to get. Garapa doida (crazy garapa) is also the name given to cachaça in the Amazon region.

Health risk

Raw sugar cane juice can be a health risk to drinkers, mostly because of the unhygienic conditions under which it is prepared in rural areas. Since it is very sugary, it is an ideal culture medium to all kinds of microorganisms, so it should not be stored outside a refrigerator. In fact, it is almost always consumed as a freshly prepared drink. Pasteurization is required if the juice is to be bottled and sold as such, and a date of validity should be stamped on the container.

Garapa has been recently involved in a widely publicized episode in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil [http://aol.countrywatch.com/aol_wire.asp?vCOUNTRY=183&UID=1442449] , when at least 49 tourists were infected with Chagas disease by drinking garapa most likely produced at roadside stalls. The sugar cane used for it most probably was contaminated with feces of the insect vector, a Reduviid.