Guarapo photoshoot

Street photography, something that fascinates me, something that cannot be missing in my life and is (always) in a “very brutally” beautiful way. It's like a meditation in movement.

Today I'm here calling @alt3r because last time she told me she was in a little bad health. I hope you are well now. I have thought a lot about you and your recovery since the last time we spoke and I told you to take those green remedies. There's not much I could offer for your healing, it was just some thoughts, you see. I hope they have helped in some way.

I took a little trip on Saturday and when we found this place that I came to show you through these photos, I thought about you again and your request to see some of our street food. Oh, well this is a great example.

There was a mill (trapiche) in this cafeteria located in a town called Guayabal and a large sign with the word “Guarapo”.

This, believe me, is a warning that makes any traveler very happy. I'm not going to be absolute, but I can tell you that those of us who were in that car exclaimed in unison: Guarapo! Cool!

The trapiche is basically a machine to grind, let's say, crush the sugar cane and extract the juice.

In a glass with ice, this juice is very tasty and sweet. In my case I don't drink this often, but sporadically, if I find it on my way.

Not all places where they sell guarapo are clean. In general, it is a bit difficult for me to eat out for this reason. Precisely this grinding cane, if you stop to think a little... it's just Shelnixxx (Sheldon Cooper + nanixxx) speaking.

Well, nada 😒. I closed the door on this character and drank that big glass of Guarapo. Shelnixxx was left there screaming and repeating ― open, open, open, open.

And then:

That's dirty, that's dirty, that's dirty, that's dirty. 🙄

_{Bagasse is not discarded,
it is passed through another grinding machine,
and fed to animals such as pigs, cattle, goats, horses...}

Bah!, Shelnixxx, don't bother anymore! 😠

And here my friend who was very hungry bought a street pizza. He told me it cost 160 CUP, about 0.47 USD. Today we have an informal exchange rate of 342 CUP for 1 USD.

He assured that the pizza was very good. It was a good size and had plenty of cheese. And when he finished eating it he rubbed his belly and concluded: Oh, I'm a person again.

I had had bread with pork steak and a malt for breakfast, in a cafeteria that we had passed very early in the morning.

Let me tell you more about the guarapo and the trapiche.

It is an energizing drink that should be consumed immediately after grinding the cane, as it ferments easily. In fact, if you let it ferment in a few hours you will obtain a wine with an alcohol level of 5 to 6 degrees.

Contains calcium, chromium, iron, cobalt, copper, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. It contains vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and studies ensure that it has diuretic, digestive, cleansing and healing properties.

If you want to know more about this traditional drink from Cuba and other Latin American countries, you can consult this scientific document that I found in Spanish.

Sugar cane as a functional food

I can tell you about the trapiche, that the first ones we know about were made of wood and pulled by oxen. They were on large sugarcane plantations in which the workforce was slaves, during the times of Spanish colonization. They cut the cane in the immense cane fields and hauled it to the mill, where it was ground to obtain juice, molasses, sugar, rum, and bagasse. Hey, nothing is wasted about this grass.

Additional shots

Bye

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_{Original content by @nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2024.}