Inca cuisine
Inca Empire |
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Inca society |
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Inca history |
Inca cuisine originated in pre-Columbian times within the
Foods
There were also several types of edible clay, like pasa, which was used as sauce for potatoes and other tubers, and chaco, something used by the poor or religiously devout. As in the rest of Central and South America, chili peppers were an important and highly praised part of their diet.[1]
Vegetables and fruits
The Inca realm stretched north–south, encompassing a great variety of climate zones. In Peru in particular, the mountain ranges provide highly varied types of growing zones at different altitudes.
Similar to oca in purpose, paiko (
Another high-altitude plant in Inca cuisine is
Another tuber consumed in the Andes was Tropaeolum tuberosum, also known as mashua and añu in Quechua, due to its resistance to droughts and frost. It was specially prepared and cooked to bring out the flavor that was desired as it was very bitter before doing so. So much so that it was considered an aphrodisiac and given to the Inca soldiers during campaigns to make them forget about their spouses.[6]
Other roots that could be found in the Inca cuisine were the maka (
The insipid, starchy root
It has been found that the Inca-conquered lands were often transitioned from potato fields to maize fields, more than likely due to maize being the main ingredient of chicha.[citation needed]
Several species of
Another fruit that was available to the Incas was the
A fruit that was described as an interesting snack available in the Andes during the time of the Inca Empire was the paqay (
Meats
Peoples of the Altiplano had two large domesticated animals: llamas and alpacas. They were kept for their wool and used as pack animals that were often used in large caravans. The llama in particular was highly valued, and a white llama adorned in red cloth with gold earrings would often go before the Inca ruler as a royal symbol.
Animals were believed to represent various gods depending on what color they had and were sacrificed in great number and the blood was used as a ritual anointment. Control over the sacred animals was very rigorous. Shepherds had to preserve every last part of any animal that died and present a full animal to the Inca or risk severe punishment.
Among the food products made from the Peruvian camelids was sharqui, strips of freeze-dried meat, the origin of modern-day
The meat of the common folk was the cuy, guinea pig. They were domesticated by 2000 BC and were easy to keep and multiplied rapidly. Guinea pigs were often cooked by stuffing them with hot stones. The entrails would often be used as an ingredient in soups along with potatoes, or made into a sauce. They could also be used for divination, which later brought them into disfavor by the Catholic Church.[12]
The Incas hunted game including the wild
One mainstay of the Inca army and the general population was dried fish.
Like other American peoples, the Inca ate animals that were often considered vermin by many Europeans, such as frogs,
The power of the Inca Empire was mighty and one of the most impressive and the advocation for storage and preservation of foods is one of the many factors that allowed for such success.
Food preparation
Cooking was often done by putting hot stones in cooking vessels[15] and there was extensive use of the huatia, a type of earth oven and the paila, an earthenware bowl.
The Inca often got through times of food shortage because they were able to preserve and store many of their crops. It is estimated that at any given time in Inca history, there were three to seven years worth of food in the state warehouses. In the high elevations of the Andes, the Inca people would begin the process of making
In addition to fruits, vegetables and roots, the Inca also preserved meat by drying and salting it, making for complete nutritional stores. The English word jerky comes from the Quechua term ch'arki, used to primarily to refer to the sun-dried meat of the llama.
For the preparation of the meats within Inca cuisine, a popular and efficient method was to dry various fish and meats. They would dry these meats for storage in the warehouse of the Inca Empire by various methods of food drying, including allowing the meats to dry by sunlight or, especially in the highlands, by
These food preservation techniques, combined with their far-reaching road system, allowed the Inca Empire to withstand droughts and to have the means to feed a standing army.[17] To reward such feats, the Inca empire practiced the ritual use of chicha. Chicha can be made from a variety of ingredients depending on the region and/or nation and can come in a variety of colors such as red, yellow, or even gray. The type of chicha that was held with high esteem amongst the Incas was the chicha made with maize. An extremely potent form of this type of chicha is known as sora, which is prepared in differing ways such as burying the maize in the ground until sprout or chewing the maize. Whichever it way it was done, the maize would then be cooked and strained through cloth with clean water making a brew of chicha.[18]
After the brewing process and the chicha was ready for consumption, it would consumed in vessels that made of varying materials such silver and gold. However, perhaps the most interesting were the ones made of wood known as keros, which often have elaborate designs and bold colors.
Quinoa, a staple plant of the Incas, was used in various ways. The leaves were often used for stews and soups. Quinoa was also used as a substitute maize in the production of chicha. The seeds were often toasted then pulverized to make various types of bread.[19]
See also
Notes
References
- ISBN 0-292-71159-X
- Foster, Nelson. Chilies to Chocolate: Food the Americas Gave the World. The Univ. of Arizona Press.
- Jacobsen, Sven-Erik. "The Worldwide Potential for Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.)." Food Reviews International 19.1-2 (2003): 167-177.
- Jennings, Justin & Guy Duke, ‘Making the typical exceptional: the elevation of Inca cuisine’, in The Oxford Handbook of the Incas. Eds. Sonia Alconini & R. Alan Covey. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
- Popenoe, Hugh, Steven R. King, Jorge Leon, Luis Sumar Kalinowski, and Noel D. Vietmeyer (1989), Lost Crops of the Incas, ISBN 0-309-04264-X