called e mt he® in 'Takana), from ripe plantains (va sa 
puri), from fruits of the wine palm (07, a species of Mau- 
ritia), trom flour corn (di he dure), and from flint corn 
(di he tada). There are also non-alcoholic chichas made 
from toasted corn flour or from ground toasted peanuts, 
the latter probably having been introduced into Rurren- 
abaque from the southeast. 
In the highlands and valleys of Bolivia there are two 
non-alcoholic beverages called chicha. Chicha de quinoa, 
or alga, is usually merely water in which quinoa (Chen- 
opodium Quinoa Willd.) has been boiled. Sometimes 
sugar and cinnamon are added. For chicha de mani, or 
fectt in the Aymara language, peanuts are toasted and 
ground, then toasted again to remove the oil. Whenever 
peanut chicha is to be made some peanut paste and sugar 
are stirred into quinoa chicha and peanut oil is poured 
over the surface. Sweetened drinks made of toasted and 
ground maize or barley are usually called tostado, al- 
though they are occasionally called chicha. 
A simple alcoholic chicha can be made by mixing a 
substance containing starch or sugar with water and al- 
lowing the liquid to ferment. However, very little chicha 
is prepared in this way. Most chicha is made by methods 
which increase the alcoholic content and improve the 
flavor, the increase in alcoholic content being brought 
about by converting some of the starches to sugars which 
ure more readily available for fermentation. An enzyme, 
diastase, will bring about this change, and in South 
America the most common source of diastase for chicha- 
making is saliva. The custom of masticating roots, fruits 
and grains in the preparation of beverages is widespread. 
Explorers have found chicha made in this fashion among 
* Native words are spelled in the fashion of the literate population 
of the area in which they occur. Pronunciation and accent follow the 
usual rules for Spanish, 
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