If you’re wondering where you’ve heard of açaí before, you may have seen beautiful smoothie bowls using the ingredient popping up on your Instagram feed. And you might also be wondering how you pronounce it. It’s not a-kay, as you might expect, but as-sigh-ee, with the emphasis on the last syllable. The word comes from the Tupian word ïwaca’i, meaning ‘fruit that cries’ (one that expels water).
Açaí berries are harvested from palm trees in the rainforests of South and Central America. Due to their incredible health properties, the berries have been used by indigenous tribes for thousands of years in medicine and food, and in recent decades, the rest of the world has caught on. You’ll regularly find the açaí berry on lists of the best superfoods.