The new year for the Aymara and Mapuche peoples begins with the winter solstice and is celebrated between June 21 and 24 in various regions of the country.
The Commemoration
It marks the end of the harvest period, the land must rest and prepare for planting. It is a way of showing gratitude to Pachamama.
Therefore, every June 21, in the Chilean highlands, a ceremony of Aymara culture takes place. After sunset, in honor of Pachamama, offerings are burned, and dances are performed around the fire.
The Food of the Day
Once the ceremony ends, the Aymara New Year is celebrated with delicious dishes such as: sopaipilla, which consists of quinoa bread filled with vegetables and potatoes.
Also known is the Chiloé sopaipilla, a sweet dough fried during the pig slaughter and pork cooking; this recipe has Arab origins and arrived in America in the early 17th century. Other dishes include tortillas; bread with oregano; wheat cookies; candied quinoa; toasted corn with charqui (dried meat); mote stew, a dish made with a particular type of wheat (mote); rocoto pepper sauce.
There is also calapurka, a soup made with mote corn, potatoes, chicken, beef, llama meat, and rocoto pepper, characterized by having a hot stone in the middle of the bowl. For drink, guava juice with quinoa.
The Mapuche community also holds its own celebration, which takes place in large cities such as Concepción and Santiago, the capital.
