Miske, distilled from penco, among the products that seek designation of origin in Ecuador

The millennial process of extracting the sap from the penco o tzawar bowls, which is part of the Andean knowledge and knowledge that has been passed from father to son, even before the arrival of the Incas, and the fact that the endemic plants known as pencos or agaves grow in half the world, with more hours of light for its growth, are part of the characteristics that make the distillate of its sap unique. For this reason also these days, this spirit drink, processed by at least 60 producers along the Andean mountain range (from Carchi to Loja), is on the way to become part of the still reduced group of products that have the designation of origin.

It is a certification that allows it to be recognized globally for its added value. It also allows access to markets and guarantees traditional cultivation methods with quality standards. It is a letter of presentation of the exclusivity of a product worldwide and therefore a good credential for export.

In the country currently only There are six products with a declared designation of origin between 2009 and 2019 in Ecuador. These are the top cacao, the Montecristi hats, the Galapagos coffee, the Transkutukú peanuts from the Shuar and Achuar communities. Additionally, the Amazonian pitahaya from Palora and the Lojano coffee, explains the National Secretariat for Intellectual Rights (Senadi).

Édison Quishpe, Cayambeño and representative of the National Association of the Productive Chain of Penco and Cabuya of Ecuador (Anagavec), explains that its 60 members, as representatives of the Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GAD) and representatives of the Academy They have opted for this project, and for this reason, a few days ago the File of the Denomination of Origin Miske was delivered to the Monitoring Commission of the Inter-institutional System for the Promotion and Protection of Denominations of Origin and Geographical Indications of Ecuador, chaired by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries. For January they plan to get the first certified production and then they dream of exporting.

The production process, Quishpe says, begins with caring for the plant, which must be at least twelve years old. Then the sap is extracted and subjected to a fermentation process. Thus the sugar obtained is transformed into alcohol. That alcohol is Miske, a drink that seeks to have the quality and alcoholic degree comparable to a good whiskey or a vodca. But for its commercialization it must have a year of rest, maturation or aging.

Quishpe says they still need to complete certain steps while their product is in the qualification process. One of them is to homogenize the quality of production with all partners and comply with the policies for a national agave cultivation plan, to guarantee sustainability. Currently there are no agave crops, but they grow naturally. The Association has 30,000 liters per month of distillate.

Other products that seek to have a designation of origin in Ecuador, according to Senadi’s records, they are mostly agricultural. Among them are four types of cheese: amasado del Carchi, amasado de Loja (Saraguro), the leaf cheese of Latacunga and the goat cheese of Zapotillo, Loja. Two types of coffee are also in the bid, such as the equinoctial from Nanegal, Nanegalito and Calceta and the Arabian coffee from Integ and the coffee from Zaruma.

Regarding cocoa, they seek their denomination the Fortaleza del Valle de Calceta and the cocoa of Same in Esmeraldas. Other candidates are mistelas from Manabí, Arazá from Sucumbíos and Orellana, the Guayusa from Napo, the Sachainchi peanut from Napo, the Ayahuasca Pastaza and the tocte from the Andes of Azuay.

Meanwhile, There are products that have obtained another type of qualification that also generates national and tourist recognition. It is about the Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (ETG). This certification encourages receptive culinary tourism. Whoever obtains this category makes sure that their consumer has the certainty that they will taste typical dishes prepared under the “traditional recipe” with cultural identity. In the case of Ecuador, the Cayambe cakes have already obtained this certificate.

Currently there are other products that seek to acquire a Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) status. Among them are nationally recognized dishes such as the shells from the Austro, the delicious chugchucaras from Cotopaxi, the black colada from Esmeraldas; the encanutado of Bocachico de Quevedo; tamale lojano, fanesca from Pichincha, among many others.

Finally, the Senadi also reports that a product has obtained the category of “collective brand”, and it is salcedo ice cream. Among these collective brands seeks to place the Macana de Gualaceo, yarns from the Ecuadorian Austro. There are another 400 registrations of collective marks in progress. (I)