Sometimes being a writer is a lonely, solitary - and I won't lie, financially fraught - thing.  Other times, it is just the opposite.  Take last night, for example.  My dear friend Lise (whose book, 'Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home' is available for pre-order on Amazon.)  invited me to a swank tasting dinner at Amada, a restaurant here in Philadelphia.

The very first tasting dinner I ever had was at Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit.  I'd seen tastings on the menu before, but with five or six chef selected courses, they seemed both long and expensive.When paired with wine, a tasting can run up to two hundred dollars a person -- which in my world is a plane ticket to Miami or half the fare to Paris if I play it right.

But then I met Marcus and really got to appreciate the creativity that went into a great chef's work.  I had the tasting menu at Aquavit and, over three hours, I relaxed into the meal - enjoying the visual artistry of the plate (they are small plates, hence the many courses), the play of flavors that were different than the usual appetizer, entrée and dessert.  I tasted the 1⁄2 glasses of wine that accompanied each course and got to see how the flavors enhanced each dish.  It was like a crash course in culinary appreciation and at the end of the meal, I was rested, satisfied, and all five senses had been completely engaged.  I felt like I'd taken a vacation, but I was a twenty-minute cab ride from home.

Which is all to say that last night's tasting dinner, hosted by Leblon cachaça was a very similar experience in that it was a journey.

I knew that cachaça was a Brazilian spirit similar to rum or vodka or tequila, and that it was the main ingredient in a very yummy drink called a caipirinha. What I didn't know was that although I'd been pronouncing it "ca-cha-ka" for years, the third c is actually soft like an s.  It's pronounced "ca-cha-sa." This happily proved my belief that you learn something every day, even when you spend part of that day bellied up to the bar.

The second thing I learned is that like a really good tequila, a fine bottle of cachaça, can be served straight.  Our host, Steve Luttman, offered us our first course (artisinal olives, flatbread, and a tuna and caper aioli) with a straight shot of cachaça, served in a grappa glass so that we could smell the nose.

Full disclosure.  Whenever someone offers me to smell a glass of wine, I hardly ever come up with something impressive.  I never smell the soil of Burgundy or the grass of New Zealand.  Sometimes in a crisp sauvignon blanc, I catch a whiff of grapefruit.  But that's about it.

Last night, when Steve asked us to smell the cachaça, I didn't feel like I was going along to get along.  The top note was sugar cane and while that's not an overly familiar smell to me, it came through clearly.  I smelled the lychee fruit strongly as well.  Someone said a hint of vanilla and I could smell that too.  It was exciting to be able to dip my nose towards a glass and actually experience the drink fully before I took even the first sip.

Champagne has to be made in France in order to be called champagne (otherwise, it has to be called sparkling wine.)  Similarly, cachaça has to be made in Brazil in order to legally put the word "cachaça" on its label.  I also learned that after vodka and the Asian equivalent, shoju, cachaça is the third most consumed spirit in the world.

I have been longing to go to Brazil ever since my friend Angela took a posse of friends down there one New Year's Eve and brought back pictures of thousands of people dressed in white, drinking champagne and dancing on the beach, as the clock struck twelve.  I hope to get to Brazil very soon - as well as to Cuba, my other top stop in the Afro-Latino tour of the Americas.

In the meantime, there's the journey of a tasting menu. I'm posting last night's tasting menu, as well as a few cachaça recipes for you to whip up on your own.  Yes, these drinks seem to demand a nearby beach and sunny weather; and trust, this summer, I'll be making these by the pitcher.  Steve gave me a great tip about infusing cachaça for days, even weeks, with herbs and fruits in these cool jars.

But don't wait for summer to start earning your degree in mixology.  I'm here to tell you that sharing a caipirinha with a friend (or two or three) on a cold February night is a great way to get away from it all.

P.S. If you want more recipes for caipirinhas, the dishes listed here, or if you come up with some inspired combinations of your own, let me know!

Leblon Cachaça Dinner

(Menu and Beverages Prepared By Chef Chad Williams and Mixologist Stephen Seibert

Amada, Philadelphia)

First

Artisanal Olives

House-Marinated with Lemon & Thyme

Leblon Cachaça

Offered neat & clean to awaken the palate

Second

A La Plancha

Seared Hamachi with Fresh Mint & Lime

Served with Papas Con Chorizo

Leblon Caipirinha

To Pair with Bright Citrus, Herbs and Rich Seafood

Third

Rack of Lamb

Slow Roasted and Served with Coriander and Dandelion Greens

Blackberry Basil Caipirinha

Fresh Berries & Herbs Muddled with Lemon to extract and showcase peppery herbs and earthy spices

 

Dessert

Manchego Mousse

Sheep Cheese Mousse, Pistachio Short Dough, Apple Crumb and Apple Cider Sorbet

Honey Melon Caipirinha

Caipirinha Recipes:

Classic Caipirinha

2 oz cachaça

1 tbsp sugar

4 lime chunks

Place the limes and sugar in a tumbler or shaker. Muddle well. Add ice and pour cachaça over the ice. Stir or shake. Pour the contents into a rocks glass making sure to get plenty of fruit in the glass.

Blackberry Caipirinha

2 oz. cachaça

6 blackberries

1/4 lime-sliced

1/2 oz. simple syrup

1 oz. Crème de Cassis

Place blackberries with sliced lime in a shaker and muddle well. Fill with ice and add cachaça, simple syrup & Crème de Cassis. Shake vigorously and pour into a pilsner glass.

Tangerine Honey Caipirinha

2 1/2 oz. cachaça

2 slices of fresh tangerine

2 1/2 oz. tangerine juice

1 tbsp superfine sugar

(or 1 oz. simple syrup)

1 tbsp honey

Place the slices of tangerine and sugar in a shaker and muddle well. Fill the shaker with ice, pour in cachaça and tangerine juice. Shake vigorously and garnish with a slice of tangerine.

All recipes courtesy of Leblon  at Liveloveleblon.com