Morocho

Ingredients

The maize

• 300 gmorocho
• cracked white maize
• soaked overnight
• 1.5 litreswater

The milk stage

• 1.5 litreswhole milk
• 200 gsugar
• or to taste
• 3cinnamon sticks
• 4cloves
• a pinch of salt

To finish

• 150 graisins
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• ground cinnamon, to dust

To serve

• hot in a cup or bowl
• with empanadas
• from a street pot

Directions

1. Rinse the cracked maize in several waters. Cover it well with cold water. Leave it to soak there overnight. Eight hours is the minimum for it. Drain all of the soaked maize. Discard all of the soaking water.
2. Put the maize in a large heavy pot. Add all of the measured water. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Use a heavy pot rather than a thin one. A thin base scorches almost immediately.
3. Let it simmer for about ninety minutes. Stir it every fifteen minutes or so. Cracked maize takes a long time to soften. Cook them on if they still resist. Add hot water if it gets too thick. It can dry out and catch if left.
4. Check it each time as you stir. Add hot water rather than cold. Pour in all of the measured milk. Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Add the pinch of salt to it as well. It stops the drink tasting flat. Let it simmer for about thirty minutes. Stir it constantly throughout.
5. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Do not walk away at any point. Keep it at a bare simmer only. Stir all the sugar into the pot. Add it once the maize is already soft. Add all the raisins to the pot.
6. Let them plump for ten minutes. They swell and soften in the hot liquid. Leave it looser than you want it. Add hot milk if it goes too thick. Taste it and adjust the sugar. It should be clearly sweet to taste. Take out all the cloves as well. Take them all out before serving. Finishing it is straightforward enough.
7. Stir in the vanilla off the heat. Serving it is always done hot. Ladle it out into cups or bowls. Dust ground cinnamon over the top. Serve hot empanadas alongside it. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• The maize cooks in water first and the milk goes in only for the last stage: milk catches and burns over long cooking and also stops the maize softening properly. Once the milk is in, stir constantly and keep it at a bare simmer — milk and starch together catch very easily, and one scorched patch ruins the whole pot.
• Cracked morocho maize must be soaked overnight, eight hours at minimum and twelve better, or it takes hours longer to cook. The grains should end up soft and swollen but still distinct with a slight chew, since that chew is the point — this is drunk and chewed at once.
• It thickens considerably as it cools, so leave it looser in the pot than you want it in the cup, and loosen it with milk when reheating.

Substitutions

• Any cracked white maize stands in for morocho; the pieces must be cracked rather than ground, since ground maize gives a smooth porridge instead.
• Add hot water rather than cold if the pot dries out during the first stage.

Variations

• It is sold from street pots in Quito alongside empanadas, a savoury pastry with a sweet drink.
• Quito sits very high in the Andes and evenings are genuinely cold, which a hot thick drink suits.
• Fish out the cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving, since cloves left in turn it bitter.

History

Sold from street pots in Quito with empanadas, thick enough to eat with a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

What is Morocho?

Morocho is a drink from Ecuador: hot drink of cracked white maize simmered in milk with cinnamon and raisins. Sold from street pots in Quito with empanadas, thick enough to eat with a spoon.

How long does Morocho take to make?

Morocho takes 15 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Morocho?

Yes, within limits. Any cracked white maize stands in for morocho; the pieces must be cracked rather than ground, since ground maize gives a smooth porridge instead. Add hot water rather than cold if the pot dries out during the first stage.

What is the most important thing to get right in Morocho?

Put the maize in a large heavy pot. Add all of the measured water. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Use a heavy pot rather than a thin one. A thin base scorches almost immediately.