#chicha morada

[morethansalad]

Chicha Morada - Peruvian Purple Corn Mocktail (Vegan)

[katiajewelbox]

Andean Purple corn (Zea mays indurata) is used to make a sweet drink called chicha morada by stewing the kernels. This heritage corn variety has been grown since pre columbian times.

[twin-rabbit]

The Power of "Milk"

The huge baby formula recall at the first of 2022 (and the resulting massive shortage because so few companies produce it) really highlighted just how central baby food is to a culture, even though it doesn't really get discussed much until something goes wrong. People also forget companies like Nestlé had huge scandals in the 70s and 80s for trying to scare women away from breast milk.

THE CONTROVERSY OVER INFANT FORMULA (Published 1981)

The reality is, without the companies involved, powdered drinks have an incredibly long and fairly well documented history. Groups like pre-contact Natives hydrated themselves and their babies with nutrient rich sources using a variety of techniques.

Corn milk, much like almond milk or soy milk, is produced by soaking and then grinding the seed and straining out the fluid. This provides both a high-grain mush as well as all the various micronutrients from the plant. This can also be done with sunflower seeds, or potato.

Incidentally, sunflower, potato, and corn are all cultivars which were developed by Natives throughout the Americas as much as ~9k yrs ago. Different strains could grow as far north as Canada and as far south as Peru. So yes, we all had agriculture (just sayin').

Anyway, crush up the maize, potato, sunflower, etc, and blend in several different ingredients depending on preference. Put it in a nice big pot, heat, and reduce the stock a bit. Sometimes chocolate or pepper was added, agave syrup, local fruit (ex. strawberries or chokecherries)... Pour the mess through a cloth sieve or just let the solids sink to the bottom. The resulting liquid is, well, there's about 50 different names for it, from chicha morada, to atole, to... It was a very popular drink.

Many of these drinks still exist in some form or other, though now days a lot of people will add cinnamon, like in the image, and most places they put in some sugar. But back in the day drinks like that (including chocolate) weren't expected to be sweet. In fact, the 'sweetness' came from the main ingredient. Plus, the leftovers could be dried and then further pulverized for making into anything from breads to soups to whatever.

Fat, protein, complex carbs, all in a highly portable and easily digestible form. It's worth mentioning various groups had and have domesticated animals who gave milk, like llamas and alpacas, it just wasn't a focal point like it was in the more cattle-dependent corners of the world.

If looking for recipes try searching for "chicha", "atole", "sweet corn drink", I even found one once called "Ethopian Sunflower Seed Juice Drink" which added ginger. Word of warning, always always boil first. Also, do not feed to animals. These are strictly human food (they can be toxic to many pets even in low doses, and depending on prep method, and some places they used yucca which is even more involved and potentially even more toxic).

If you're one of the really cool people you have a local supplier who either makes the stuff fresh, or can give you things like atole powder for mixing at home. Cherish those providers. Thank them, repeatedly hand them money even.

[oliviously]

Lima, Perú

[hydr-arts]

Here's a supper self indulgent drawing that I started when I was drunk and sad that I had no one to speak Spanish with here in the US, so have my new kid from Phone Destroyer bonding with Craig about their experiences in South America.

No. You cant change my mind, hes Peruvian.

[wonkanerds]

Vegetarian and/or vegan food in Bogotá 🤤🍔🌯🍟🍦🍰🍫🥪🥤💚 🧇❤️🤩.

[dreamsongsims]

Generation 3 Name Claims: Prism Branch

Chicha Morada and Pitaya Children of Rodi and Maizie Prism

For image credits please see links above.

[shoku-and-awe]

ペル料理屋さんのランチ // PERUVIAN LUNCH SET Ají de gallina at Aldo in Omotesando. It’s a chicken stew made with yellow chili peppers and turmeric, and I love it so much. Lunch (¥1000) comes with a drink and soup or a big salad, which wasn’t a sad Japanese cabbage salad but had broccoli, tomato, and even quinoa. For the drink, I tried chicha morada, purple corn juice. My expectations for the taste were off because of the color, but when I got used to it, it did taste like sweet cornsilk tea, plus some cinnamon and fruity notes. Can’t wait to go back to this place.