Champús is a

drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothie ...

popular in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, particularly

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and southwest

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It is made with

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s (such as lulo, also known as naranjilla),

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, 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 culti ...

, quince or guanábana, sweetened with

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

and seasoned with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, ...

and orange tree leaves. It is believed to have originated in southwestern

. In

, it is drank warm, and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, guanábana and

quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yel ...

are used instead of lulo. It is sold in the streets by a ''champusera'', a typical figure of Lima's landscape, who passes down the recipe to younger generations. In

, it is prepared with

maize flour Maize flour or corn flour is a flour ground from dried maize (corn).Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', Third Edition, Pg. 165, Barrons Educational Series Inc, 2001 It is a common staple food, and is Mill (grinding), ground to coarse, med ...

and lemon tree leaves. It's common in funeral rites because indigenous traditions consider the beverage a favorite of the dead. In

, crushed maize is used, in addition to

, lulo,

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

s and orange tree leaves. In the regions of the south, such as the Departments of Nariño and Cauca, it is considered mainly a drink for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. In Nariño it is also prepared with leaves of cedrón and congona. In the Department of Valle del Cauca it is served very cold, being popular at any time of the year. In some regions of Peru and southern Colombia, the drink is made with ''mote'', cooked maize that makes the champús thicker; in these regions, it is consumed as
dessert

Origin

The origin of the word champús remains unknown due to the lack of registered information. However, there are certain theories that make this type of drink not only a Colombian drink but one made in different parts of South America like Ecuador and Peru. In 1960, Daniel Guevara in "Expresión ritual de comidas y bebidas ecuatorianas", explains that champús in Ecuador is a drink used by indigenous tribes in funeral rituals. Since it is a traditional indigenous drink, like

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

and guarapo, it is said to share the same origin. According to the "Diccionario of Vallecaucanismos" of Leonardo Tascón, Champús is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

word that means “something done wrong, a mixture of everything”. He explains that the

gave this name to the drink due to the unpleasant mixture of many things. Others consider that it is an African word. In " Canto Negro" (2004), Nicomedes Santa Cruz finds this lady in traditional Afro-Peruvian songs. The problem is that any of the defenders of the African thesis propose a word in the African language to relate to the origin of Champús. “A champucera is a lady that placed herself in the plots with a lamp of tallow candles and an Afro-Descendant boy recited a copla to proclaim the sale of the champús”. “Seminario de la Historia de la Cocina Peruana” (2007). Diaz (2018), believes that the most convincing theory about the origin of the word comes from the Quechua, because “chapuy” means “to make dough” which, in fact, is the main ingredient of the drink. Ceballos; Micanquer; Perez; Lasso and Zambrano (2011) explain that, in

, the Champús is a drink that comes from low-income families. They also explain that the champús gathers the energy of the

, the sweetness of the

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, the strength and the aroma of the cloves and the cinnamon as well as the secret touch from the orange leaves. Nowadays, it is a drink served all year long but the authors explained that this drink is made for

celebrations and is also considered a dessert. According to the authors above, this type of drink cures both thirst and hunger. It is a refreshing drink that at first might not look pleasant. There is a famous place in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

where they sell this delicious drink, it is called ''El Champús de Lola''. This establishment has run for almost 30 years and has passed to younger generations which had worked with the original recipe. Despite the existence of several venues that sell the same drink, customers consider that the best preparation of the champús comes from the lower-income suburbs which are sold on the streets sometimes with the purpose of raising funds.

References

#Tascon, L (1961). Quechuismos usados en Colombia. Editorial Norma. Colombia. #Guevara, D (1960). Expresión ritual de comidas y bebidas ecuatorianas. Editorial Universitaria. Mexico. #Santa Cruz, N (1971). Ritmos negros del Perú. Editorial Losada. Argentina. #Villavicencio, M (2007). Seminario de la Historia de la Cocina Peruana. Universidad de San Martín de Porres. Peru. {{DEFAULTSORT:Champus Peruvian cuisine Colombian cuisine Ecuadorian cuisine Non-alcoholic drinks Maize-based drinks