Chicha
Chicha ( tʃi.tʃa ) is a beer -like alcoholic beverage made from tropical South America, which was already drunk by the Incas and is generally obtained by fermentation of various plants through saliva, hence the occasional name " Spuckebier ".
The word origin is not fully understood. According to the Royal Spanish Academy of Language and other authors Chicha is derived from the word chichab from, a word of the language of the Kuna, which means " corn ". According to other sources chicha comes from the Nahuatl word chichiatl, which translates as " fermented water". The name Chicha was used by the Spaniards for all fermented drinks, which they found in America, even if each different locally available ingredients were used for the preparation.
In the Inca Empire chicha from corn was produced mainly from germinated maize ( jora or Wiñapu ), but also from quinoa, Oca and Molle. In Quechua means the drink Aqha. There were cornmeal baked patties chewed by the women, so imbued with a lot of saliva. The starch is quickly transformed by the presence of salivary enzymes in sugar whose solution then easily passes into fermentation. The alcohol content of Chicha ranges from 1 to 6% by volume, depending on whether the product is produced for everyday drinking while at work or for festivals such as the Inti Raymi. The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega explained that excessive drinking was considered the main vices of the people. Many other contemporary texts testify to the use of chicha as everyday and hard drink.
The Shuar and other indigenous peoples of the Amazon lowlands traditionally produce a form of chicha from yuca ( cassava ) or the fruit of the peach palm ( chonta ). Both raw materials are soft boiled and then pounded before parts of the mass (usually of a woman) chewed and played back into the pot. Then, water is added, while the fruit mass wrung his hands and " screened " is. Finally, the drink for the fermentation is at least one day left. Traditionally, the chicha is kept in a hollowed-out gourd.
A non-alcoholic version is chicha morada. For purple corn is boiled and cold, flavored with sugar and lime juice, drunk as lemonade.
In Venezuela, particularly the rice Chicha is widespread. This variant is prepared by mixing rice with slightly fermented pineapple shell and Papelón ( cane sugar is crystallized in plates) is cooked together until it can not absorb any more water. Subsequently, the remaining liquid is mashed with the rice, so that a thick drink is produced. This is then allowed to ferment for a few days, depending on the taste yet. As an alcohol -free version, there are the rice - Chicha with milk. This is a cold soft drink that is sold much on the streets. It is prepared with milk instead of water and without pineapple and served with cinnamon and sweet condensed milk, is a kind of rice pudding milkshake.
In Chile, especially in Central Chile, chicha is made from fermented apples. The drink similar to cider. It is drunk in the fall and on national holidays and is very popular. Chicha from Curacaví is made from grapes.
After the drink, the shape of the Peruvian Cumbia was colloquially named.