With innovative preparations but maintaining tradition, producers and institutions met to continue promoting this product, which has a designation of origin and is the source of income for hundreds of families in a large part of the department. The challenge: achieve the planting of crops from the achira to guarantee the preparation of the cake.
Diary of Huila, economy
By: Gloria Camargo
One of the most anticipated reasons for locals and visitors in the San Pedro festivities in Huila, revolves around gastronomy, and one of the most important products in the basket that delights palates without a doubt is the achira cake.
For this reason, through Ordinance Project No. 12 of 2021, the Assembly of the Department of Huila, institutionalized the Achira Huilense Day every June 20, as “as an activity of socioeconomic and cultural interest, articulated with the municipalities of the region, and that presents some advantages related to a knowledge inherited from generation to generation, the denomination of origin that the Achira Huilense Biscuit has, the recognition as a typical product of the department of Huila, in addition to the high local and national consumption”.
This in order to “promote the recognition of farmers and people who are dedicated to the production and marketing of this product in the Region, while promoting the recognition and visibility of a traditional gastronomic cultural manifestation.”
“Our identity”
Faced with the issue, Tatiana Méndez Ramos, deputy from the Centro Democrático party, pointed out that in itself what is sought is to “support this entire sector, this producer union from the Huilense achira, which is what identifies us.
Tatiana Méndez Ramos, representative of the Centro Democrático party.
When you go to any part of Colombia or the world, the first thing they ask you for is a chira and these are the windows we need for these producers, who we know exist but are not given the importance and relevance they deserve, for That’s the ordinance I proposed.”
And it is precisely in this context that Huila celebrates and will celebrate the Achira Huila Day every June 20.
The first day, according to Méndez Ramos, was attended by “30 producers, to whom a contribution was made to be here, but the important thing is to make them known and that they have that push and that marketing in other spaces, such as the supermarkets.
Guarantee the raw material
We see here that some already have a denomination of origin, which is very important, but we also need them to have more commercialization. Now another issue that we are failing in the department of Huila, is in the production of the achira”.
Well, he reiterated that the package of achira flour is over $500,000 and must be brought from other departments such as Cundinamarca or Nariño to guarantee the preparation of the cake in the department.
From now on, every June 20 in the department, the Achira Huilense Day will be celebrated. Photos Gloria Camargo
“In Huila we have the necessary thermal floor, in municipalities such as Isnos, San Agustín or Oporapa, this is a tuber from which flour is obtained and we can produce it here, we can expand that production and avoid bringing it from other departments, which What it does is make production more expensive,” he said.
In this regard, Dilberto Trujillo, Secretary of Agriculture, indicated that work is being done for this purpose with the Ministry of Agriculture. “We are in San Agustín accompanying 40 achira producers, it has been a bit difficult and complicated to work in production because it has been difficult to find interested producers, but the idea is to continue in the exercise of production in the department.”
According to the official, to a large extent it has been difficult due to the conditions such as the seeds and breaking with some “cultural patterns that have not allowed the association and the producers themselves to be interested in that.”
At the time it became known that in a good part of Huila imported achira flour is bought at a low price but of poor quality.
door to innovation
However, among the good news, it is reflected that this tradition is maintained in Huila, but that some risky producers have injected innovation and new flavors into the cake.
This is the case of José Daniel Rapira, from the Típica Sabrosura company, where from the traditional recipe an achira is made with a coffee flavor and another with a cocoa flavor.
José Daniel Rapira and Lucelia Olaya, the husband and wife who make innovative achiras flavored with cocoa and coffee.
“This is an innovation that was made with the achira cake, keeping the original formula but also adding coffee and cocoa. I make the products with my wife”, and she added that “both coffee, cocoa and cheese are added to the formula, and are processed in the company that has Invima registration.
We buy coffee and cocoa in warehouses, we roast, grind and process it to obtain good quality, in the same way cheese, because it is the basic component and must be special”.
Respecting typical recipes, new products are made to reach other audiences.
This initiative began in 2017, and although it was frozen, two months ago it resumed activities with good acceptance by the public. According to Lucelia Olaya, it took them a month to come up with the formula for making these biscuits, but “we did have some problems with the cheese, but in the end we hit it from doing so much.
Right now I am processing it, I buy the milk, I rennet it, I do everything because it is without salt. Until now they have told me that it is very tasty and I would like to set up a place in two or three months to make it more known”.
According to the organizers of these trade shows, at the same time the sale of other typical products such as mistela is promoted.