Post 6: Peruvian Purple Corn = Maize Morada, Plus a note about Inca Kola

Hello!  Just wanted a quick post about Maize Morada (Morada = Purple).  This is a special type of corn found in Peru that is Purple!  Peruvians are really proud of this corn, grown here and just like its yellow/normal corn cousin, the kernels are HUGE! So much bigger than any corn kernels I have seen in the US!  Well anyways with this purple corn they end up doing something to it to make it into different sweet things.  For example, the juice - yes thats right, corn juice - is called Chicha Morada - and it tastes kind of like grape juice but a bit different.  Chicha Morada is on the menu for every restauraunt you go to, on the shelves of every groccery store.  I think it rivals Inca Kola (More about this later) in popularity!

Then there is also Masamorra Morada which is this sweet, thick sauce made from Maize Morada.  This is pretty tasty and a good dessert.  You can have it by itself or  you can eat it on top of arroz con leche (rice pudding - see picture) with some cinnamon on top.  This is also an essential at most restauraunts, stores. People sell this on the street like hot dogs in New York!

Lastly, I wanted to slip in a picture of Inca Kola.  This is like people’s water here.  Its in every restauraunt, store, site of the street cart, EVERYWHERE.  As you can see from the picture above, Inca Kola is more of a yellow color.  Originally this made-in-Peru drink was made from Hierba Luisa AKA Lemongrass so it tastes sweet and light, like cream soda.  The recipe has changed, as well as the owners (Coca Cola bought Inca Kola since they could not compete) but its still as popular as ever.  The logic for this popularity over my favorite drink (water) is that the water is not safe to drink out of the tap (bacteria).  Most people either boil their water (ie. at home) or buy a bottled water (what would be brought to you if you ordered water at a restauraunt) but since they can just boil water at home, people prefer to spend their money on something more unique: hence Inca Kola being the drink of choice at every restauraunt meal to date (minus some Chicha Morada).  

Just wanted to share these two interesting and uniquely Peruvian Food/Drinks!