Some of my favorite memories come from the time I have spent with my family in Colombia, South America –– despite the humidity that puts Eugene summers to shame. The only relief we get comes from a faraway bicycle horn followed by a man’s angelic voice yelling “¡champús!” that instantly sends my family scrambling to find money and a pitcher. One of us goes outside to echo his cries for this sweet beverage, alerting him to come our way and save us from the sweltering heat. Like a true knight in shining armor, propelling a cart clad with a canopy and gallons of champús, he comes our way to sell it to us by the ladle, after which we hurriedly rush it to the fridge and wait not-so-patiently for it to chill before devouring it. This drink is comparable to the inside of a fruit pie, as described by some American friends who recently tried this recipe.

Ingredientes:

3 liters of water

500 grams of uncooked, cracked, white, hominy corn

500 grams of panela, or unrefined brown sugar

10 lulos (also known as naranjilla) or 28 ounces of lulo pulp

One pineapple

Six orange leaves

Six whole cloves

Five cinnamon sticks
 

Instrucciones:

1. Heat your water in a large saucepan over medium heat.

2. While the water is heating, rinse your corn kernels like you would rice in order to remove the dust that coats them.

3. Add your corn to the water when it is close to boiling for about an hour, or until the corn is tender.

4. Crush your block of panela with something hard (I used a rock but a hammer or meat tenderizer would suffice) and add the chunks to a medium saucepan along with the orange leaves, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Add water until half of the panela is covered. Cover the pan and boil over medium heat until the panela is dissolved.

5. Once the corn is tender, separate one cup and blend until smooth. Add this mixture back with the rest of the corn.

6. Remove the orange leaves, cloves and cinnamon sticks and add the panela syrup in with the corn. 

7. If using whole lulo fruit, cut them in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon before adding it to the corn and panela mixture. If not, simply add the pulp straight into the mixture.

8. Peel the pineapple and cut it into small pieces before adding it into the champús. 
9. Stir everything until combined. Chill before serving. ¡Buen provecho!