Meaning of panocha (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Panocha:

Panocha is a word that has different meanings, especially depending on the geographical region where we are. It can refer to an ear, a sugar cane sweet, a sweet bread, an empanada, the female genitalia, or it can be a way of referring to what belongs to the Murcia region of Spain.

The word, as such, comes from the vulgar Latin panucŭla , which in turn is derived from the Latin panicŭla , diminutive of the Latin word panus , which means 'ear of string'.

In this sense, as a panocha the Spanish designate the cob, be it corn, panizo or millet.

Likewise, in Spain, panocha or panocho is an adjective used to refer to that which belongs to or is related to Murcia. By extension, this is also the name of the inhabitants of Murcia and their dialect.

In Latin America, meanwhile, panocha also means different things.

In Mexico, for example, more specifically in the northwest of the country, it is known as panocha al piloncillo, that is to say, the sweet of ground and processed sugar cane, with which conical breads are made for sale. The most famous panochas are those of the town of Guadalupe de Ures, in the state of Sonora. As such, the panochas are used for the preparation of various desserts, such as coyota, honey squash jam, pipitorias, etc.

For its part, in the United States, more precisely in the state of New Mexico, the panocha is a type of dessert made from sprouted wheat and piloncillo, and is traditionally eaten during Lent.

In Colombia, the panocha is a sweet bread made with wheat flour, sugar and fat, which inside is filled with a sweet prepared from a mixture of sugar, coconut and cheese. It is typical of the Colombian coast.

In Costa Rica, a panocha is an empanada, made up of bread dough and stuffed.

In the rest of the Latin American countries, from Mexico, through Central America and the Caribbean, and including countries in South America, such as Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Chile, panocha is a name given colloquially to the female genital organ.

An example of its use is found in this passage from the novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold , of the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize for Literature: "I grabbed all panocha she said Divina Flor. It was what I always did when I was alone in the corners of the house, but that day I did not feel the usual scare but a horrible desire to cry. "