Last day in Lima- off to Cusco!

On Tuesday morning we visited  La Casa de la Gastronomia Peruana, a museum about the origin of Andean food up to modern day Peruvian culinaries. Through arquiological studies, it has been detected that Andean regions, dating back to 8000 b.c., began the domestication of edible plants, fruits and vegetables. If one is interested in knowing what food the Andean people not only ate but also worshipped and used in ceremonial offerings, s/he may look no further than in Andean pottery and art.

We have seen a lot of pottery from the Paracas (700 ac - 100 dc), the Nazca(200 bc - 600 dc) and the Moche (100 ac - 600 dc) but at the Gastronomia museum we saw how they modeled some of their pottery after their food. The farthest left resembles a Pumpkin from the Paracas, the peppers and the lúcuma behind the peppers and the bowl with pepper designs are from Nazca culture.

Andean cultures used a variety of foods as offerings to their Gods, in one example, they may have offered food in return for an abundance of water. This practice was carried out late into the 17th century in the midst of mainstream Catholic evangelic beliefs. Relating back to three posts ago when I posted about Andean huacas, in 1616, two huacas- Juripalpa and Ayna- were discovered as having been used for ceremonial sacred offerings.

Ask anyone who knows me well and they would tell you I am a huge fan of good eats. I am constantly scouting Food Network for new recipes to try. I recall sitting in my dorm room my freshman year and watching a cooking show of a man digging a hole in the ground and placing a dish full of meat, herbs, and vegetables under the ground and covering it. It was interesting, but not something I was gonna try and do. It wasn't until the cook uncovered the dish and took a bite that his facial expression- his this is the best barbecue I've ever tasted- spoke for itself and I immediately wanted to have a taste.

Needless to say, as I strolled through the food museum, the words "la tecnica de cocinar bajo tierra" - the technique of underground cooking- stopped me in my tracks. Pachamanca, the burial of barbecue that I had dreamt about since my freshman year, was nevertheless an Andean cooking technique! Now that I'm in Peru, it is absolutely a must eat for me.

I have jumped on the Quinoa band wagon back home and completely replaced rice with this little nutritious grain for the past year. When I found that this museum had a room dedicated solely to Quinoa, I was rather excited. I learned that quinoa and llama had a symbiotic (two organisms are dependent on each other) relationship early in its cultivation.  Also, a plaque with what I recognized as having a few of Guaman Poma's Inca illustrations grabbed my attention,  it read -"according to the agricultural calendar of Guaman Poma of Ayala, the planting and harvesting dates of quinoa coincide with those of the cultivation of corn." Quinoa nevertheless appears in some of Poma's drawings as well as Andean pottery. 

Blurry but thankful this moment was captured.

On our last night  in Peru, we decided to eat at the small pizza/pasta restaurant next to our hostel and say our goodbyes to the wonderful staff who've put up with us for the last 11 days. They were such kind and inviting people and I'm so glad I was given the  unforgettable opportunity to meet them!

Coca tea.

This Wednesday morning, we got up early to catch our flight to Cusco. Cusco is a very mountainous region; it's a breathtaking view from the plane but it's even more beautiful with both feet on the ground. The culture is so unique- streets markets like I've never seen before,  women with their braided hairs and hats, cultural dance shows in the middle of plazas, along with the never-ending coca tea all give me a small glimpse of the amazing experience we're about to embark on!

Julie