Chilean Strawberry Chicha

A lightly fermented Mapuche strawberry drink made from wild Fragaria chiloensis: the ancient Chilean strawberry: crushed and allowed to ferment gently with muday (maize chicha) or alone, sweet and slightly fizzy, pink and fragrant

Origin: Araucanía Region, Chile (Mapuche tradition)

From the journey of Strawberry.

Chicha is the broad term across Andean and South American Indigenous cultures for fermented drinks made from maize, fruits or other starchy crops. Among the Mapuche people of southern Chile, the wild strawberry, known as quillén in Mapudungun, was fermented into a drink for celebrations, harvests and ceremonies. The Mapuche have cultivated and harvested Fragaria chiloensis along the Pacific coastal ranges for millennia. It was this specific strawberry, large, firm and intensely flavoured, that the French officer Amédée-François Frézier transported back to France in 1714, eventually giving rise to the modern garden strawberry. The strawberry chicha was made simply: ripe frutillas were crushed, the juice was combined with water and sometimes honey or molle berries (a natural source of wild yeast), and left to ferment in clay pots for a day or two. The result was mildly alcoholic, naturally carbonated, and deeply fragrant: a seasonal drink tied to the brief window when the quillén ripened.

Ingredients

Fruit

  • 1 kg very ripe fresh strawberries, hulled

Liquid

  • 1 litre filtered or spring water (not chlorinated tap water)

Sweetener

  • 3 tbsp raw honey or panela sugar

Acid

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Ferment

  • 0.25 tsp active dried yeast (or rely on wild fermentation, see notes)

Garnish

  • 1 small handful fresh mint leaves (optional, for serving)

Method

  1. Crush the ripe strawberries thoroughly in a large non-reactive bowl (ceramic, glass or stainless steel) using a potato masher or your hands until they release all their juice. Do not blend; you want pulp, not a smooth purée.
  2. Add the water, honey and lemon juice to the crushed strawberries. Stir well to dissolve the honey. If using dried yeast, dissolve it in 2 tablespoons of warm water for 5 minutes until foaming, then stir into the mixture.
  3. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth (not cling film; it needs to breathe) and secure with a rubber band. Place in a warm spot (20–25°C); a kitchen counter is ideal.
  4. After 24 hours, taste the chicha. It should be slightly fizzy, still sweet but with a gentle tartness developing. Stir gently twice daily. Allow to ferment for 24–48 hours total depending on your preferred sweetness and fizz.
  5. Strain the chicha through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, pressing the pulp to extract all the liquid. Discard the pulp (or use it in smoothies).
  6. Transfer to bottles or a covered jug and refrigerate. Refrigeration halts the fermentation. Serve cold over ice, garnished with mint.

Notes

For truly wild-fermented chicha, closer to the Mapuche original, omit the dried yeast entirely. The wild yeasts on the strawberry skins and in the air will ferment the drink naturally, though it may take longer and the result will vary. Using non-chlorinated water is important, as chlorine inhibits fermentation. This is a very lightly alcoholic drink (1–2% ABV at most with a 48-hour fermentation), suitable for all ages when made at the shorter fermentation time. The drink is naturally pink and beautiful; serve in clear glasses.

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