Remedy from a Dream

Remedy from a Dream

A few weeks ago, I had the fortune to meet a fascinating old woman who is quite well-known in Puerto Maldonado. She carries her 94 years as if they were 60, and the years certainly haven’t reduced her sharp wit – if anything, it would seem that nearly a century in the Amazon has probably put a razor edge to it. As she likely does with all her guests, she offered me a shot (or three) of her locally famous and hand-brewed chuchuhuasi, a beverage with some reputedly damn-near magical properties (not to be confused with chullachaqui).

Chuchuhuasi is actually the bark of a tropical tree, Maytenus laevis, which has been used for centuries by indigenous cultures in the region for medicinal purposes. As such, the drink she prepares has a medicinal purpose at heart. And the mild intoxicating qualities probably aren’t shunned by its drinkers either. Apparently, one can find a whole range of chuchuhuasi beverages in other places, but her recipe is both regarded as the best around and has a unique story that gives it a whole new flavor.

As she told me, several decades ago, her husband was diagnosed with a fatal illness of some kind. He was given three months to live, along with a host of pills to treat the symptoms of his illness. Quite naturally, she was crushed, terrified, and desperate to find a cure for her husband’s illness. Every day, she said, she prayed to God and all the saints and angels in heaven above, begging for some way to cure her husband.

Then one day, she had a dream, in which she heard someone whispering in her ear. She heard ingredients, a process – a recipe for chuchuhuasi. She woke with a start, looking around the room for someone who might have been speaking to her. But she was totally alone. She raced to the desk, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote down the recipe before it slipped away. Lemon, anise, honey, chuchuhuasi, a couple of other ingredients I couldn’t quite make out, and a secret ingredient she guards with a mischievous smile.

She prepared the concoction as soon as she was able to gather the ingredients, and gave it to her husband, who was steadily getting weaker by the day.

Within a week, he was looking better, feeling better, walking around. He stopped taking his prescribed medicines, and only drank her chuchuhuasi concoction as the days progressed.

Within a month, his symptoms had disappeared completely. The doctors were shocked and couldn’t explain it. While they had given him three months to live, he went on to live another six years after that, strong and healthy. And likely chugging down that chuchuhuasi on a daily basis.

These days, people come from all over town begging her for a few shots or a bottle. People swear by its medicinal benefits for a variety of illnesses and maladies. She doesn’t sell it, because she feels that would be inappropriate to the means by which she was blessed with the recipe. But neither is she likely to part with that recipe anytime soon!