07. Cocona

Scientific Name:

Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal.

The spineless cocona is apparently unknown in the wild, having been observed by botanists only in cultivation from Peru and Colombia to Venezuela and bordering regions of Brazil . In 1760, a Spanish surveyor, Apolinar Diez de la Fuente , found the cocona with maize and beans in an Indian garden between Guaharibos Falls and the juncture of the Casiquiare and Orinoco rivers. In 1800, Humboldt and Bonpland, traveling up the Orinoco , observed that the cocona was one of the common plants in the region between the Javita and Pimichin rivers.

The fruits are much eaten by the Indians and commonly marketed throughout the producing areas of Latin America . In Colombia and Brazil , the cocona is a domestic product, in Peru it is the basis of an industry.

Food Uses:

The ripe fruit is peeled and eaten out-of-hand, can be use in salads, cook it with fish and also in meat stews. Sweetened, it is used to make sauce and pie-filling. It is prized for making jam, marmalade, paste, and jelly. It is often processed as a nectar or juice which, sweetened with sugar, is a popular cold beverage.

COCONA COCTEL:

4 People:

2 cups of cocona juice
1 cup of peach juice
1 cup of pisco
2 claras de huevos
Sugar

Mix the cocona juice with the pisco and the peach juice. Then put the sugar and put the bearing eggs. Mix.