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Fiesta Drink · Fermented Corn Brew

Chicha

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The corn used is first left to sprout for several days before fermenting, a step that converts its starch into the sugar the fermentation actually needs.

Corn is soaked, sprouted, and fermented with sugar and water into a tangy, mildly alcoholic drink. Vendors sell cups of it from big jugs at Guanacaste's traditional cattle fairs known as topes.

Why it's made this way: Chicha's fermentation techniques trace back to Guanacaste's Chorotega heritage and remain most visible today at the province's oxcart and cattle festivals.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.