Brazil's answer to the Sichuan pepper
Jambu!! My wife and I are obsessed with this stuff, hah. We went to north Brazil (near Fortaleza) to spend time with her family. Her stepdad kept trying to find cachaça (pronounced "cashasa") infused jambu for me to try. No luck. Even in Brazil jambu is not that well known and is hard to find. It's easier to get in the north (closer to where it grows supposedly). We've been doing a running poll where we ask all her Brazilian friends, family, etc if they've tried jambu and most have never heard of it. Back to our time in north Brazil: eventually we're at a wonderful gourmet restaurant and we ask if they have any jambu and the waiter goes to the kitchen and comes back with the chef. Not only did they have a quality cachaça with jambu for us to try but the chef also prepared a jambu flower with some kind of oil. My whole mouth got numb. Also if you find yourself quite drunk the first time you try cachaça with jambu (like I was) take care to only have a little sip because a big one could make you throw up. Side note Brazilians call the "pins and needles" sensation of having a leg fall asleep "formigando" which comes from their word for ants ("formiga"). In other words instead of "pins and needles" they think of it as ants crawling on your leg. Anywho jambu is definitely an experience and Brazil is a very cool place. Also you can gain brownie points with Brasilians by spelling Brasil with an "s" ;D