Bottled chicha morada

by Joe DiStefano, Posted Aug 2nd 2006 @ 8:06PM

I was quite excited to find the pictured bottle of chicha morada in a South American grocery in my native Queens today. This was the seventh straight day that temperatures rose above the 90-degree mark, the mercury hit 102 today, or about 150 on the Is-DiStefano-gonna-die index. I must admit that beyond the refreshment factor I was somewhat intrigued by the label.

For those of you haven't heard of it chicha morada is what I like to consider the national soft drink of Peru. It's a sweet, refreshing concoction made from purple corn kernels, cinammon, cloves, nutmeg, and brown sugar, among other ingredients. Just thing the to quench one's thirst during a heat wave. Until today, I've only had it in restaurants.

Sadly, the only interesting thing about the bottled version was the label. It lacked the complexity of the homemade version I've had in restaurants. When I read the ingredients I understood why: water, purple corn, sugar and potassium sorbate as preservative. I'd love to know if anybody has tasted a decent bottled chicha morada.

Filed Under: Food Oddities, Raves & Reviews, Ingredients, Drink Recipes
Tags: chicha, chicha morada, ChichaMorada, juice, morada, oddities, Peru, purple corn, PurpleCorn, south america, sugar

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-03-2006 @12:57AM jmchez said... It's so refreshing (pun intended) that you mention the lable without really talking about the elephant in the room (to mix my metaphors). One thing about Latin America is that making fun of anyone's (truly anyone's) ethnicity is pretty much taken for granted. There are very few racial hangups. Maybe because there are no Jesse Jacksons or Al Sharptons down there.
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8-03-2006 @1:31AM Kristina said... What on earth are you talking about? Has the heat gotten to you, JM? You're talking gibberish.
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8-03-2006 @10:14AM tr said... Krisitna, i believe jmchez is referring to the bottle label, and little cartoon pic on the ear of blue corn. look carefully at it, that ain't aunt jemima. then again, it could just be some weird character coincidence, kinda like that episode of the simpsons where homer's face was also the mascot for mr. sparkle in japan.
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8-03-2006 @10:26AM Andrew said... The national soft drink of Peru is Inca Kola.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Kola
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8-03-2006 @12:45PM Kristina said... Ahhh, thanks. Now see? I just see right past that because I don't look for racism where it isn't apparent -- and I'm African American. I can see why some may confuse that for the racist "black face" but that's not what it is. It's an odd cartoon character with blonde hair. But thanks for the clarification, I thought he was attacking the poster.
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9-17-2006 @9:16PM Ken said... Chicha Morada is everywhere in my neighborhood (Paterson, NJ). They sell it by the half-gallon and also single-serving bottles like shown in most stores. Yes, it's better in the restaurants, but the bottled products are OK. I never tried the Dona Isabel brand shown, although I've seen it.
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8-12-2006 @10:55PM Juan Pedro Arbul� said... I´m Peruvian, I live in Lima, let me tell you that we in Lima consume Chicha Morada since we are little kids , in birthday partys or when ever we are thirsty , it`s the maybe the first option after water to satisfy our liquid needs.
When i`ts made out of real corn in houses or restaurants is incredibly refreshing ( very cold).
I think it`s not considered a soft drik but it is for sure our national thirst quencher.
I`m interested in making public how good it is for health too, I din`t know but I found out lately about the properties of purple corn. Let me know if someone is interested.
JP.
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