Boas Comidas

Glossário Culinário

Tacacá

Prato

Origem
Pará, Brazil

Tacacá is a hot soup served in gourds, typical of Pará, made with tucupi, jambu and salted shrimp. Although hot, it is drunk even on warm days in the North, taken almost like a broth, with the mouth slightly numbed by the jambu.

Characteristics

Tacacá combines the yellowish tucupi broth with the green jambu leaves, which cause a slight numbness on the tongue, and the salted shrimp that add the touch of sea flavor. Tapioca gum can lightly thicken the broth, leaving it velvety.

  • Broth: tucupi, liquid extracted from wild cassava and boiled.
  • Herb: jambu, leaf that causes the signature tingling.
  • Protein: salted shrimp, used in small amounts.
  • Serving: very hot, in a gourd, sipped straight or with the help of the gourd rim.

Uses in the kitchen

Tacacá is sold by tacacá vendors in the late afternoon in Belém and at Pará festivities, as a starter or afternoon snack. In home cooking, it appears at June festivals in the North and on regional food menus, alongside dishes such as duck in tucupi, maniçoba and fish moquecas. As a light broth, it opens meals with fish and seafood well.

Variations

Variations come down to the amount of jambu and gum, which leave the broth thinner or fuller, and to using fresh shrimp instead of salted in some households. There are versions with more pepper and mild versions for first-timers. Outside Pará, the dish is usually adapted with fish broths and moquecas, which use easier-to-find ingredients and keep the spirit of a regional soup.

Fun facts

Tacacá has Indigenous origin and tucupi requires careful boiling before consumption, as it comes from wild cassava. Jambu is responsible for the numbing sensation, which startles first-timers but is precisely the trademark of the dish. Drinking tacacá straight from the gourd, without a spoon, is the traditional custom. Because the original ingredients are hard to find outside the North, the dish is rare in other regions and became a symbol of Pará cuisine.

Recipes with tacacá

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