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Amazonian Yuca and Chicha

Lumu / Mandi

Specialised

Yuca is planted in the CHACRA, the rotating forest garden that is usually women’s work and women’s knowledge, and it is the base of everything. Boiled, roasted in embers, pounded; and fermented into CHICHA DE YUCA, which is a daily food and not a party drink — offered to any visitor, and refusing it is a refusal of hospitality. ⚠ THE TRADITIONAL FERMENTATION IS STARTED BY CHEWING, the saliva supplying the amylase; that is recorded because it is the documented technique, described and not prescribed. Bitter varieties require processing to remove cyanogenic compounds; the knowledge is Indigenous and is not reproduced here as a method.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

  • Amazonian Kichwa community documented

Languages: Tena Lowland Quichua, Northern Pastaza Quichua

What is recorded

  • Chicha de yuca is a daily food rather than an occasional drink, and its offering to visitors is a documented obligation of hospitality. The traditional fermentation is initiated by mastication, which supplies salivary amylase. Bitter cassava varieties require processing to remove cyanogenic glycosides; that knowledge is Indigenous and is described, not reproduced as a method. documented

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.