The Humble Potato Is Exalted in the Mountains of Peru
By MADHUR JAFFREY
The New York Times

Chahuaytire, Peru -- Gumercinda Quispe is a descendant of Peruvian Incas
and here, high in the Andes, more than 12,500 feet above sea level, she
has prepared a nourishing, spicy potato soup, quacha chuño.

She has made it with both fresh potatoes and chuño, the dried, hard
white potatoes that are still prepared just a stone's throw away. The
ancient preservation process includes soaking them in an icy stream,
stomping them by foot to remove the skins and drying them in the sun.

I love potatoes. They are not a staple in my native India, as they are
in Peru. In India, they are a beloved, cheap treat. Cooked in thousands
of different ways, almost always creatively burnished with selective
spoonfuls from a treasure chest of seasonings and spices, potatoes are
served in every town and village at mealtimes and as chutney-augmented
street snacks. I wanted to learn more about potatoes here in the land of
their birth.

In the little mountain village of Chahuaytire near the town of Pisac in
southern Peru, Ms. Quispe and I sat down at a table close to the warm,
sooty hearth in the rustic restaurant where she works. The sun was
shining bright outside, and the sky was a clear, cold blue.

"Put some sauce in the soup and drink from the bowl," she said,
motioning to the verdant uchucuta sauce she had prepared. "Uchu" means
"chiles" in the Quechua language of the Incas, and "cuta" means
"ground."

The sauce, a mouth-smackingly good fresh chutney to this Indian, is not
just hot from one of the dozens of chiles native to Peru, but sour from
limes that came with the Spaniards, and deeply aromatic from huacatay
and other wild herbs that grow in the mountains.

There was a time when Incas used only wild Peruvian herbs, but today,
after centuries of Spanish influence, they go to the market and buy an
asnapa, a bouquet of herbs that could include the New World huacatay but
also gifts from the Old World like cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley and
tarragon.

Potatoes come in every texture and color. You can see them in the
markets: reds, blues, purples, yellows and pinks, sometimes ringed with
two colors when sliced open. The texture of some varieties can be
changed by putting them out in the sun for a few days before cooking
them. This turns them softer and silkier.

Some are shaped like a puma's paw; others, an alpaca's nose or a cat's
claw. Native to the Andes in Peru and northwest Bolivia, potatoes were
domesticated more than 10,000 years ago. And yet new varieties are being
discovered all the time.

Potato banks -- like the one in the Pisac region of the Andes that
stores seeds in a climate-controlled vault for 1,300 varieties of
potatoes -- are always searching for new varieties, as are dozens of
creative Peruvian chefs on the lookout for wild and unusual indigenous
ingredients.

Freeze-drying the potato for chuño was just one method used to increase
its life after harvest. Running or walking was the chief mode of
transportation for most ancient Andean peoples (certainly the Incas);
they could easily carry dried potatoes with them and make a quick stew
with local herbs, chiles and water from a mountain stream whenever
hunger called.

Dried potatoes in Peru come in many forms. They can look like pebbles --
hard and smooth, in white or purple. They can look like large gravel,
with different colors. But they can also be soft, tasting and smelling
as funky as fermented bean curd or ripe cheese. Each has a different
flavor and texture.

The Inca guide who traveled with me through the Andes still hikes
carrying dried potatoes (sometimes in a powdered form) and llama jerky,
essential ingredients for a soup he considers a part of his cultural
inheritance.

Potatoes were given superb treatment wherever I traveled. At the Sumaq
Hotel in the town of Aguas Calientes, there was pastel de papa, a
meltingly soft potato cake with layers of thin-sliced potato, bacon and
cheese.

Papa a la Huancaina, which originated in the town of Huancayo in the
central highlands and is considered by many to be Peru's national dish,
was everywhere, including the cafeteria at Machu Picchu. Boiled, sliced
potatoes and boiled, sliced eggs were placed on top of lettuce leaves
with some olives strewn about, and dressed with a Huancaina sauce that
brought the dish together. Its main ingredient was the long, aromatic
orange chile, aji amarillo.

Perhaps my favorite dish of all was causa. Like lasagnas, causas are
layered terrinelike dishes, generally served cold, though room
temperature can also work for some of them.

Instead of pasta, potatoes -- mashed and seasoned with an aji amarillo
paste, lime juice, olive oil and salt -- are the most important element
in a causa. They can provide one, two or even three of the layers in the
dish. The other in-between layers could include seafood salad, vegetable
salad, chicken salad or, as in the Amazon region, pork-and-onion salad
made with the addition of the fiery, round charapita chile.

Whichever way it is served, causa is always soothing -- and refreshingly
delicious. For the hotter regions of Peru, it is just as cooling and
satisfying as that warming soup is in the Andean mountains.

On 4/17/2018 4:12 PM, Victor Sack wrote:
> The Humble Potato Is Exalted in the Mountains of Peru
> By MADHUR JAFFREY
> The New York Times
>
> Chahuaytire, Peru -- Gumercinda Quispe is a descendant of Peruvian Incas
> and here, high in the Andes, more than 12,500 feet above sea level, she
> has prepared a nourishing, spicy potato soup, quacha chuño.
>
Thank you, Victor, for posting something other than the automated
Rec.Food.Cooking FAQ links.

Jill <---loves potatoes, never been to Peru

> She has made it with both fresh potatoes and chuño, the dried, hard
> white potatoes that are still prepared just a stone's throw away. The
> ancient preservation process includes soaking them in an icy stream,
> stomping them by foot to remove the skins and drying them in the sun.
>
> I love potatoes. They are not a staple in my native India, as they are
> in Peru. In India, they are a beloved, cheap treat. Cooked in thousands
> of different ways, almost always creatively burnished with selective
> spoonfuls from a treasure chest of seasonings and spices, potatoes are
> served in every town and village at mealtimes and as chutney-augmented
> street snacks. I wanted to learn more about potatoes here in the land of
> their birth.
>
> In the little mountain village of Chahuaytire near the town of Pisac in
> southern Peru, Ms. Quispe and I sat down at a table close to the warm,
> sooty hearth in the rustic restaurant where she works. The sun was
> shining bright outside, and the sky was a clear, cold blue.
>
> "Put some sauce in the soup and drink from the bowl," she said,
> motioning to the verdant uchucuta sauce she had prepared. "Uchu" means
> "chiles" in the Quechua language of the Incas, and "cuta" means
> "ground."
>
> The sauce, a mouth-smackingly good fresh chutney to this Indian, is not
> just hot from one of the dozens of chiles native to Peru, but sour from
> limes that came with the Spaniards, and deeply aromatic from huacatay
> and other wild herbs that grow in the mountains.
>
> There was a time when Incas used only wild Peruvian herbs, but today,
> after centuries of Spanish influence, they go to the market and buy an
> asnapa, a bouquet of herbs that could include the New World huacatay but
> also gifts from the Old World like cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley and
> tarragon.
>
> Potatoes come in every texture and color. You can see them in the
> markets: reds, blues, purples, yellows and pinks, sometimes ringed with
> two colors when sliced open. The texture of some varieties can be
> changed by putting them out in the sun for a few days before cooking
> them. This turns them softer and silkier.
>
> Some are shaped like a puma's paw; others, an alpaca's nose or a cat's
> claw. Native to the Andes in Peru and northwest Bolivia, potatoes were
> domesticated more than 10,000 years ago. And yet new varieties are being
> discovered all the time.
>
> Potato banks -- like the one in the Pisac region of the Andes that
> stores seeds in a climate-controlled vault for 1,300 varieties of
> potatoes -- are always searching for new varieties, as are dozens of
> creative Peruvian chefs on the lookout for wild and unusual indigenous
> ingredients.
>
> Freeze-drying the potato for chuño was just one method used to increase
> its life after harvest. Running or walking was the chief mode of
> transportation for most ancient Andean peoples (certainly the Incas);
> they could easily carry dried potatoes with them and make a quick stew
> with local herbs, chiles and water from a mountain stream whenever
> hunger called.
>
> Dried potatoes in Peru come in many forms. They can look like pebbles --
> hard and smooth, in white or purple. They can look like large gravel,
> with different colors. But they can also be soft, tasting and smelling
> as funky as fermented bean curd or ripe cheese. Each has a different
> flavor and texture.
>
> The Inca guide who traveled with me through the Andes still hikes
> carrying dried potatoes (sometimes in a powdered form) and llama jerky,
> essential ingredients for a soup he considers a part of his cultural
> inheritance.
>
> Potatoes were given superb treatment wherever I traveled. At the Sumaq
> Hotel in the town of Aguas Calientes, there was pastel de papa, a
> meltingly soft potato cake with layers of thin-sliced potato, bacon and
> cheese.
>
> Papa a la Huancaina, which originated in the town of Huancayo in the
> central highlands and is considered by many to be Peru's national dish,
> was everywhere, including the cafeteria at Machu Picchu. Boiled, sliced
> potatoes and boiled, sliced eggs were placed on top of lettuce leaves
> with some olives strewn about, and dressed with a Huancaina sauce that
> brought the dish together. Its main ingredient was the long, aromatic
> orange chile, aji amarillo.
>
> Perhaps my favorite dish of all was causa. Like lasagnas, causas are
> layered terrinelike dishes, generally served cold, though room
> temperature can also work for some of them.
>
> Instead of pasta, potatoes -- mashed and seasoned with an aji amarillo
> paste, lime juice, olive oil and salt -- are the most important element
> in a causa. They can provide one, two or even three of the layers in the
> dish. The other in-between layers could include seafood salad, vegetable
> salad, chicken salad or, as in the Amazon region, pork-and-onion salad
> made with the addition of the fiery, round charapita chile.
>
> Whichever way it is served, causa is always soothing -- and refreshingly
> delicious. For the hotter regions of Peru, it is just as cooling and
> satisfying as that warming soup is in the Andean mountains.
>

On Wed, 18 Apr 2018 03:30:32 -0000 (UTC), Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>On Tue 17 Apr 2018 05:44:50p, jmcquown told us...
>
>> On 4/17/2018 4:12 PM, Victor Sack wrote:
>>> The Humble Potato Is Exalted in the Mountains of Peru
>>> By MADHUR JAFFREY
>>> The New York Times
>>>
>>> Chahuaytire, Peru -- Gumercinda Quispe is a descendant of
>>> Peruvian Incas and here, high in the Andes, more than 12,500 feet
>>> above sea level, she has prepared a nourishing, spicy potato
>>> soup, quacha chuño.
>>>
>> Thank you, Victor, for posting something other than the automated
>> Rec.Food.Cooking FAQ links.
>>
>> Jill <---loves potatoes, never been to Peru
>>
>>> She has made it with both fresh potatoes and chuño, the dried,
>>> hard white potatoes that are still prepared just a stone's throw
>>> away. The ancient preservation process includes soaking them in
>>> an icy stream, stomping them by foot to remove the skins and
>>> drying them in the sun.
>>>
>>> I love potatoes. They are not a staple in my native India, as
>>> they are in Peru. In India, they are a beloved, cheap treat.
>>> Cooked in thousands of different ways, almost always creatively
>>> burnished with selective spoonfuls from a treasure chest of
>>> seasonings and spices, potatoes are served in every town and
>>> village at mealtimes and as chutney-augmented street snacks. I
>>> wanted to learn more about potatoes here in the land of their
>>> birth.
>>>
>>> In the little mountain village of Chahuaytire near the town of
>>> Pisac in southern Peru, Ms. Quispe and I sat down at a table
>>> close to the warm, sooty hearth in the rustic restaurant where
>>> she works. The sun was shining bright outside, and the sky was a
>>> clear, cold blue.
>>>
>>> "Put some sauce in the soup and drink from the bowl," she said,
>>> motioning to the verdant uchucuta sauce she had prepared. "Uchu"
>>> means "chiles" in the Quechua language of the Incas, and "cuta"
>>> means "ground."
>>>
>>> The sauce, a mouth-smackingly good fresh chutney to this Indian,
>>> is not just hot from one of the dozens of chiles native to Peru,
>>> but sour from limes that came with the Spaniards, and deeply
>>> aromatic from huacatay and other wild herbs that grow in the
>>> mountains.
>>>
>>> There was a time when Incas used only wild Peruvian herbs, but
>>> today, after centuries of Spanish influence, they go to the
>>> market and buy an asnapa, a bouquet of herbs that could include
>>> the New World huacatay but also gifts from the Old World like
>>> cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley and tarragon.
>>>
>>> Potatoes come in every texture and color. You can see them in the
>>> markets: reds, blues, purples, yellows and pinks, sometimes
>>> ringed with two colors when sliced open. The texture of some
>>> varieties can be changed by putting them out in the sun for a few
>>> days before cooking them. This turns them softer and silkier.
>>>
>>> Some are shaped like a puma's paw; others, an alpaca's nose or a
>>> cat's claw. Native to the Andes in Peru and northwest Bolivia,
>>> potatoes were domesticated more than 10,000 years ago. And yet
>>> new varieties are being discovered all the time.
>>>
>>> Potato banks -- like the one in the Pisac region of the Andes
>>> that stores seeds in a climate-controlled vault for 1,300
>>> varieties of potatoes -- are always searching for new varieties,
>>> as are dozens of creative Peruvian chefs on the lookout for wild
>>> and unusual indigenous ingredients.
>>>
>>> Freeze-drying the potato for chuño was just one method used to
>>> increase its life after harvest. Running or walking was the chief
>>> mode of transportation for most ancient Andean peoples (certainly
>>> the Incas); they could easily carry dried potatoes with them and
>>> make a quick stew with local herbs, chiles and water from a
>>> mountain stream whenever hunger called.
>>>
>>> Dried potatoes in Peru come in many forms. They can look like
>>> pebbles -- hard and smooth, in white or purple. They can look
>>> like large gravel, with different colors. But they can also be
>>> soft, tasting and smelling as funky as fermented bean curd or
>>> ripe cheese. Each has a different flavor and texture.
>>>
>>> The Inca guide who traveled with me through the Andes still hikes
>>> carrying dried potatoes (sometimes in a powdered form) and llama
>>> jerky, essential ingredients for a soup he considers a part of
>>> his cultural inheritance.
>>>
>>> Potatoes were given superb treatment wherever I traveled. At the
>>> Sumaq Hotel in the town of Aguas Calientes, there was pastel de
>>> papa, a meltingly soft potato cake with layers of thin-sliced
>>> potato, bacon and cheese.
>>>
>>> Papa a la Huancaina, which originated in the town of Huancayo in
>>> the central highlands and is considered by many to be Peru's
>>> national dish, was everywhere, including the cafeteria at Machu
>>> Picchu. Boiled, sliced potatoes and boiled, sliced eggs were
>>> placed on top of lettuce leaves with some olives strewn about,
>>> and dressed with a Huancaina sauce that brought the dish
>>> together. Its main ingredient was the long, aromatic orange
>>> chile, aji amarillo.
>>>
>>> Perhaps my favorite dish of all was causa. Like lasagnas, causas
>>> are layered terrinelike dishes, generally served cold, though
>>> room temperature can also work for some of them.
>>>
>>> Instead of pasta, potatoes -- mashed and seasoned with an aji
>>> amarillo paste, lime juice, olive oil and salt -- are the most
>>> important element in a causa. They can provide one, two or even
>>> three of the layers in the dish. The other in-between layers
>>> could include seafood salad, vegetable salad, chicken salad or,
>>> as in the Amazon region, pork-and-onion salad made with the
>>> addition of the fiery, round charapita chile.
>>>
>>> Whichever way it is served, causa is always soothing -- and
>>> refreshingly delicious. For the hotter regions of Peru, it is
>>> just as cooling and satisfying as that warming soup is in the
>>> Andean mountains.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>I've never met a potato I didn't like, although I've had some pretty
>dreadful potato salads. :-)
>
>I rather like what was described herein.

And now I have to climb all the way back up!

On 2018-04-17 8:44 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 4/17/2018 4:12 PM, Victor Sack wrote:
>> Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* The Humble Potato Is Exalted in the Mountains of Peru
>> Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* By MADHUR JAFFREY
>> Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* The New York Times
>>
>> Chahuaytire, Peru -- Gumercinda Quispe is a descendant of Peruvian Incas
>> and here, high in the Andes, more than 12,500 feet above sea level, she
>> has prepared a nourishing, spicy potato soup, quacha chuño.
>>
> Thank you, Victor, for posting something other than the automated
> Rec.Food.Cooking FAQ links.
>
> Jill <---loves potatoes, never been to Peru

My son is there now. He left last Wednesday for a month in Peru and
Bolivia. He was there last March too and liked it so much we went back
again this year. He sent a picture of his lunch the other day. It was
Alpaca in a coca leaf sauce. He said that it was awful. Every other meal
he has had there was great, but this was a buffet where the bus had
stopped.