Chicha

Chicha is a fermented beverage brewed by the indigenous people of the Andean region, dating back to the Inca Empire when women were taught the techniques of brewing chicha in Acllahuasis (feminine schools). It is traditionally prepared from a specific kind of yellow maize (jora) and is usually referred to as chicha de jora. It has a pale straw color, a slightly milky appearance, and a slightly sour aftertaste, reminiscent of hard apple cider. It is drunk either young and sweet or mature and strong. It contains a slight amount of alcohol, 1-3%.

In Peru, chicha also means an informal and transient arrangement, or a street vendor. In other Latin American countries like Panama, chicha can simply mean "softdrink" or "juice."

The common Spanish expression Ni chicha ni limonada is roughly equivalent to the English "neither fish nor fowl." (Thus, it is used when something is not easily placed into a category.)

Etymology

According to the Real Academia Española and other authors, the word chicha comes from the kuna word chichab, which means maize. However, according to Luis Goatherd it comes from the Nahuatl word chichiatl, which means "fermented water"; the verb chicha meaning "to sour a drink" and the postfix -atl meaning water.

Preparation

Chicha de jora is prepared by germinating maize, extracting the malt sugars, boiling the wort, and fermenting it in large vessels, traditionally huge earthenware vats, for several days.

In some cultures , in lieu of germination of the maize for release of the starches in the maize, the maize is ground, moistened in the chicha maker's mouth and formed into small balls which are then flattened and laid out to dry. The diastase enzyme in the maker's saliva releases the starch in the Maize.

Use

Chicha de jora has been prepared and consumed in communities throughout in the Andes for millennia. The Inca used chicha for ritual purposes and consumed it in vast quantities during religious festivals. In recent years, however, the traditionally prepared chicha is becoming increasingly rare. Only in a small number of towns and villages in southern Peru and Bolivia is it still prepared.

In Peru, mature chicha is used in cooking as a kind of cooking wine, in, for example, seco de cabrito (stewed goat).

Varieties

There are various regional varieties of chicha:

• In Lima and other large coastal cities, chicha morada is prepared from maiz morado (purple corn). It is usually sweet and consumed cold like a softdrink. It is even industrially prepared and sold in bottles and cans.
• In and around Cuzco, strawberries are added to chicha in season to make frutillada.
• In Puno, chicha can be found made from quinoa. It is very pale in color, almost white.
• In Ayacucho, chicha de siete semillas is a thick, rich-tasting chicha made from maize, wheat, barley, and garbanzo beans.
• In the town of Huanta, chicha de molle is prepared from the small, reddish seeds of the molle tree. It is very rare and perhaps the most delicately flavored chicha.
• In Venezuela chicha or chicha de arroz is made of boiled rice, milk, sugar and chopped ice. It is usually served as a sweet refreshing beverage with ground cinnamon and/or condensed milk toppings. In most large cities, Chicha can be offered by street vendors, commonly referred to as Chicheros. The Venezuelan andean regions prepare an alternative version, with added fermented pineapple, which has a more liquory taste. This variety is commonly referred to as Chicha Andina and is a typical Christmas time beverage.
• In Chile chicha is made from grapes or apples and drank during the 18th of September celebrations (Independence Day).
• In many parts of Colombia Chicha is prepared with maize, yuca, quinoa, pineapple, rice, potatoes, etc... depending on the zone, and drunk in large quantities in celebrations but also like a type of refreshing and nutritious beverage, the ingredients and techniques used are usually found in recipes of fermented drinks all over America, theres even recipes with cannabis and coca leaf, and even with traditional etheogens. Chicha is prepared in many ways, and is considered an art, and a person who makes good chicha is respected , but it is usually kept between family and friends because of cases of prohibition as well as prejudice, social rejection and/or discrimination, political abuse and authority violence that have been seen since quite some time, because of the discriminating cultural rejection of indigenous customs and traits, ever since europeans and the church invaded America.

See also

• Alcoholic beverages
• Pulque
• Cauim

External links

• The Chicha Page-recipes, information, and links
• Gallo en Chicha-recipes, information, links