{"time":1772050193993,"blocks":[{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Cheese matured in a tree gourd?

Spread throughout the city of Valença, in the south of Rio de Janeiro state, the sapucaia tree boasts impressive pink blossoms and is filled with immense shells, from which large, delicious nuts, such as the Brazil nut, are harvested. Used for millennia by the indigenous people who inhabited the region, these containers stored water, food, or paste for war paint.

Today, who would have thought, cheese is matured in it.

Made from goat’s milk fermented with yogurt, the cheese named Sapucaia is aged for 21 days inside the gourd, combining the natural fungus native to the Atlantic Forest with two others added by the producer.

The velvety textured product is created in Capril do Lago (@caprildolago) and it has a velvety texture, a flavor of chestnut and wood, and a spiciness from the Sapucaia fungus, reflecting the different cultures that have inhabited Valença for centuries.

[The image shows work by artist Mônica Carvalho, made from Sapucaia de Várzea and painted with organic pigment.]"}}],"version":"2.18.0"}