Chicha

Corn was very important to the Inca culture and was used as food as well as the "wine" of the ancients. Chicha, “corn beer” was a very important part of any Inca feast. The brewing of the corn beer was considered such a sacred process that it was produced by “virgin priestesses”. To this day, women are the "brewers" in the culture.

On a nutritional note, the process of fermenting the corn made it more digestible and thus provided more nutritious "drink". The end result is similar to how the Aztecs soaked corn in wood ash (Cal) which rendered it easier to grind and more nutritious as well.

Each home, even today has a ceramic “chicha jar” used for making chicha (not all alcoholic). The unfermented, sweetened varieties of chicha are chicha blanca which is the white corn version with cinnamon, and chicha morada which is made from the purple corn and according to Betty Fussell “tastes like a strawberry milkshake”. There is even a “kicked up” version called chicha picante which is the basic corn brew with the addition of lemon and aji peppers.

The traditional jar for storing Chicha is called an "urpu" (see image top of page).  It has a long neck and is frequenlty adorned with decoration. According to Betty Fussell (The Story of Corn) "no one builds a house without putting a miniature bull and chicha jar on the roof,  for luck and life".