Rosa Nautica Chicha Morada, By Infrogmation on June 12, 2010 via Flickr - Creative Commons

Low and behold my astonishment when walking down the beverage isle of a grocery store in Lima, Peru when I found a soft drink like bottle featuring a big cartoonish picture of purple corn on it. I laughed and thought giddily to myself, “Silly humans, corn isn’t purple and even if it was who would drink…corn?!?”

Well I would, eventually, after being shown that there is purple corn, I mean really purple…I wonder if that’s what made Barney purple? Anyways, the corn is not some genetic freak of nature but actually dates back thousands of years back to the Incas. Hell, this stuff even made its way into a scene in Moby Dick, which since I am now also an amazing animal with a link to this purple corn that somebody should write a book about me. It would be less piratey with the ‘argh mateys’ and more like a cooler version of Eat, Pray, Love but something like Eat, Drink, Fling Poo? I think it’s kind of catchy, throw in some purple corn and you have a best seller.

Back to the corn, the purple corn. I decided it was my duty to try this stuff out, because while I like corn I can’t imagine drinking it, or that enough people would like it to warrant it having its own bottling company.

But before I tell you how it taste, let me tell you how it is made. First they boil the purple corn, I guess you can’t or don’t actually eat the corn which is scary because they drink it. I didn’t get too much of an explanation just a look of, ‘Uh Duh!’ You add pineapple, quince and clove to the boiling mix until it is a deep purple. (Not sure where you would pick up quince though?) Then you add spices like Cinnamon, sugar and lime juice for flavoring although I’ve heard that every recipe is different this seems to be the base of it. After all is said and done you can serve this drink hot or cold and it is regularly compared to wine although without the alcohol. I’m guessing there are a few similar nutrients but the non alcoholic part isn’t it’s strongest selling point in my opinion.

Now that you see all that goes into this purple concoction you can believe me when I say it doesn’t taste like you’re drinking cream corn. It is sweet and fruity not quite like a juice but not like anything else I can quite compare it to either. It’s purple so I want to say grape juice but it is not. The complexities offer a sweet yet spicy drink with a fruity twist that if you ask around is supposed to be a cure all. Will it cure your ailments, sure I guess if you tap your red heals together enough while drinking it down, but more importantly you can boast that there is such a thing as purple corn and you have drank it.

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Tags | chicha, chicha morada, corn, peru, purple, purple corn, South America