Colada Morada is a drink that is part of Ecuador's gastronomic culture along with

t'anta wawa T'anta wawa ("bread baby", from Aymara language, Aymara and Quechua language, Quechua "bread" and "child, baby"; Spanish language, hispanicized names: , ''tantaguaguas'', ''tantahuahua'', ''wawas de pan'', ''tantawawas'' and ''muñecas de pan' ...

. It is a purple and thick liquid that is prepared with typical fruits of Ecuador, spices and

corn flour Cornflour may refer to: * Cornflour (in the UK), corn starch, from the endosperm of the kernel of the corn (maize) grain * Corn flour (in the US and elsewhere), very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize See also * Flour * Starch ...

. This drink is traditionally consumed on November 2, souls' day or "days of the dead", along with the so-called t'anta wawa (bread usually of non-ordinary flavor and various fillings that has the shape of a doll, hence the name ) which are representations of the dead wrapped in a blanket. The origin of this drink dates back to pre-Columbian times, where the ancestral peoples related to harvest and planting as synonyms of life and death. Indigenous people from the Ecuadorian mountain range celebrated the rainy season and in turn worshipped their relatives who had died. Being the Colada Morada as a symbol of a happy journey from life to death. For the same reason, they exhumed their dead and shared with them this traditional drink. As a great example in which they celebrated with the colada morada based on the blood of the llamas is the Quitu-Cara culture. After being colonized by the Spaniards, the tradition was adopted by them and they transformed it into a religious offering, also with their arrival, they brought products like wheat, with this product as a base, they created the t'anta wawa that we now know, and they supplanted the zapallo tortillas cooked in the pot, which was what the Indians commonly ate in this celebration. Although the tradition is to eat it on the day of the dead, its consumption is usually marketed in the month of October and November. Colada Morada con tortillas

Ingredients

Colada Morada is mainly prepared with purple corn flour, which gives it its thick consistency and accentuates the color of the name to that drink. Some people, instead of corn flour, use corn starch, fruits such as

naranjilla ''Solanum quitoense'', known as naranjilla (, "little orange") in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama and as lulo (, from Quechua) in Colombia, is a tropical perennial plant from northwestern South America. The specific name for this species of nigh ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

, strawberry, babaco, guava,

blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...

or mortiño (wild blueberry from the Andean paramo). It also carries a number of aromatic herbs and barks, such as cinnamon, cloves, ishpingo,

sweet pepper The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species '' Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, oran ...

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

leaf,

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

lemon verbena ''Aloysia citrodora'', lemon verbena, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native to South America. Other common names include lemon beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish and the Portuguese in the 17th ce ...

, etc. And to sweeten sugar or

panela Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Central and Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other na ...

is used.

References

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External links

Ecuadorian Colada MoradaMore traditional recipe using corn flour, in Spanish
Ecuadorian cuisine Maize-based drinks