betore this. he sediment which was left after straining 
and that which remains in the pot after the chicha is 
drunk are thrown to the pigs and chickens. There are no 
by-products. Just as in the highlands no yeast is added. 
The liquid is boiled in one pot, however, and fermented 
in another which is merely rinsed out after each lot of 
chicha has been made. 
White flint corn is used to make two drinks in the Rio 
Beni town of Rurrenabaque. The grains are pounded in 
2 wooden mortar (taczv) with a pestle (mano tacu in the 
Takana dialect of Rurrenabaque) to loosen the pericarp 
(Pl. VIIb). After winnowing, the grains are boiled in 
water for about three hours. Sugar is then added. When 
cool, this product is called somd, probably an introduced 
term. If allowed to ferment, it is called tuhuré. 
Reference has been made to the sweet caramel-like 
paste (misqui kketa) produced in the highland chicha pro- 
cess. The Takana Indians prepare a similar sweet as the 
end-product in a process which is exactly like that for 
chicha up to the time of boiling. The malting, grinding 
and salivation have been completed and the water added. 
The mixture is then strained and boiled. However, in- 
stead of boiling for only a few hours, this process con- 
tinues for almost a day until the liquid is sticky and 
caramel-like, and the Takana women judge it has reached 
its ‘‘point.”” This means that when cool it will harden 
just as properly made fudge does. While still hot the 
sticky liquid is poured or scraped onto the broad leaves 
of any one of several species of Heliconia. Usually it is 
eaten as a sweet (et? hua; in the Takana dialect spoken 
near Reyes, e cua huara). Since sugar cane is now com- 
mon in the area, very few of the Takanas still make the 
sweet solely as a confection. It is usually utilized as an 
ingredient for achicha prepared from the di palm, a spe- 
cies of Mauritia. 
[ 58 | 
