Collection: To notice

A unique product with a wonderful story, which begins in the sixteenth century with the confrontations between the Reche, a people who lived  between the Aconcagua River and the Chiloé River in what is now Chile and the Spanish conquerors.. Reche was the collective name (meaning 'people') for three peoples, the Pikunche, the Huilliche and what were called the 'central' Reche, later the Mapuche. This last group fought many violent conflicts with the Spanish and fought successfully.

Eventually, a peace agreement was reached called the Treaty of Quilin in 1641, which recognized the Mapuche as a separate and autonomous people. The Mapuche were thus the only indigenous group under Spanish control to gain full independence, but not in isolation. They traded with the Spanish and shared their agricultural practices, which resulted in, among other things, a "fusion chili powder" called merkén, a mixture of the local goat horn chili and two spices introduced by the Spanish: cumin and coriander.

We are proud to offer this authentic chili powder from the Mapuche.

Merkén