The Purple Mazamorra

La Mazamorra Morada is a traditional dessert of Peru, made from purple corn. This dessert is specially prepared in October, the purple month, during the celebrations of the month of the Lord of Miracles.

The mazamorra made from corn has pre-Hispanic origin. According to the chroniclers, it is the motalsa or ishkupcha of yellow corn prepared in pre-Hispanic times with a little quicklime. It is presumed that the name of mazamorra is due to the fact that, at the beginning of the conquest, the Spanish tasted this stew and, as it was not to their liking, they expressed that it looked like a "mazamorra". The mazamorra, was the name they gave to the food of the marginal people, or rather, of those condemned to the galleys. We can presume then that the porridge was a horrendous meal.

In colonial times, a dessert emerged by mixing native products such as purple corn and sweet potato flour, with sugar and a variety of dried and compote fruits such as chilli, cherries, dried apricots, apple, and quince, brought from Spain. This amalgam gave rise to the porridge that we know. Today the purple mazamorra has become one of the most representative and delicious desserts of our culinary culture.

The great fondness for this dessert gave rise to the popular saying "Lima from Mazamorrero", which was popularized by our traditionist Ricardo Palma. One of Lima's pleasures is savoring a steaming plate of purple porridge sprinkled with plenty of ground cinnamon. Now, to increase the pleasure, there is nothing like a classic, purple mazamorrita combined with rice pudding ... That is something else !!!