The big Fruit Batido craze came to us from Latin American countries, where batidos are sold under every tree, made with fresh fruit, some milk, and plenty of sugar. That’s the basic recipe, yet every self-respecting batido stand had its own formulas.
There was a good one at the end of the main street, with a young woman cutting fresh fruit in full view of the customers, and a more commercial one next to Kong Hing Supermarket, in the back. Then the media told us that batidos defeat the concept of healthy living with all the extra, empty-calories, added, and thus over time, the super sweet badido slowly morphed into its American cousin, the smoothy, which was a bit less extravagant, and more life-style conscious.
Savaneta, is the home of Mauchi’s Smoothies. We have been stopping there on the way to the beach for at least ten year. Mauchi, a pioneer farmer girl, her real name is Maureen Laaf Ras, opened her shack roadside, and has been offering the tastiest smoothies made with fruit, vegetables and herbs, she grows herself. Organically.
This woman doesn’t just sell smoothies, she spends time in her huge fruit garden, at least two hours every morning, and she thinks about the content of her product, and it shows
We had a very green drink with Kale, Cilantro, Moringa, Spinach, Cucumber, a touch of Ginger and fruit juice. It was incredibly yummy and then the friendly barista offered an Immune Booster to-go, made with Noni, Sorsaca, and Moringa. We fell for her pitch and invested in a lime-green magic potion. Another concoction available at Mauchi promises to replace Viagra, made with watermelon rind, and lemon. She is big on traditional herbal medicine, balancing the liver, the blood and fighting gout and diabetes, even cancer, with the antioxidant qualities of Soursop, Papaya, Moringa and Noni. Mauchi’s husband, Eduard, sells nice plants, I saw thick Palmitas for sale at Awg 45.
Mauchi’s cunucu is located in Sabana Basora. Savaneta and environ are blessed with fertile soil and her fruits and herbs are happy in the half-shade trellis built by Edward, a former hotel Food & Beverage director. Each tree is encircled by charming yellow flowers, protecting the soil from the sun and conserving water.
Mauchi is also busy opening an affiliated outlet on the main street in SN. Complete with a colorful mural. And the Savaneta location had a creative colorful upgrade, recently. You can also have some simple food, on the adjacent picnic tables, in the shade. The place has a children’s sand box.
Mauchi’s Smoothies & Juice Bar is a family business. The Laaf-Ras family includes Edward, Maureen, Mandy and Landon, they all work together under Brigadier General Mauchi’s direction. They take agriculture seriously.
Call with questions, tel. #584 7115, #593 7390, Savaneta 87, open until 8 pm, including weekend.
