Chicha de piña

Fifteen years ago, I tried making the drink from pineapple skins in Delia’s Summer Cooking, and it was horrible. This time I followed the instructions on Laylita’s Recipes, and it came out much better. It has a subtle pineapply flavour, and is excellent with a shot of rum.

Chicha de piña
(makes about 2 litres)

• skin and core of a large pineapple, well washed
• 1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar, to taste (I added less at the beginning, then sweetened it further after boiling.)
• spices: cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, cloves, star anise, etc (I went with cloves and anise)
• 10 cups of water

1. Combine all of the ingredients in large pot.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer partially covered for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Allow it to cool a bit, strain and adjust the sweetness. Serve warm or refrigerate (it kept  fine for a week).

Family score: 8.3 out of 10

Tags: dairy-free, fruit, gluten-free, pineapples, South American food, vegan, vegetarian