Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

Of the different kinds of grain, maize is most generally and most successfully cultivated in Peru. It grows on the sandy shore, in the fertile mountain valleys, and on the margin of the forest, where the warmth is great. There are several varieties of maize, which are distinguished one from another by the size of the head and by the form and appearance of the grain. The most common kinds on the coast are—1st, the Mais Morocho, which has small bright yellow or reddish brown grains; 2d, the Mais Amarillo, of which the grain is large, heart-shaped, solid and opaque; 3d, Mais Amarillo de Chancay, similar to the Mais Amarillo, but with a semi-transparent square-shaped grain, and an elongated head. The Morocho and Amarillo maize are chiefly planted in the eastern declivity of the Andes. They run up in stalks eight or nine feet high, and have enormously large heads. In one of them I counted seventy-five grains in a single row.

Maize forms the bread of the Peruvians. It is almost the only sustenance of the Indians of the mountains, and is the principal food of the slaves on the coast. Like the potatoe in Europe, it is cooked in a variety of ways. Two of the most simple preparations of maize are those called choclas and mote. Choclas are the unripe maize heads merely soaked in warm water; they form a very agreeable and wholesome article of food. Mote consists of ripe maize first boiled and then laid in hot ashes, after which the husks are easily stripped off.

As to whether maize is indigenous to Peru, or when it was introduced there, much has already been written, and I shall refrain from entering into the investigation of the question here. I may, however, mention that I have found very well preserved ears of maize in tombs, which, judging from their construction, belong to a period anterior to the dynasty of the Incas; and these were fragments of two kinds of maize which do not now grow in Peru. If I believed in the transmigration and settlement of Asiatic races on the west coast of America, I should consider it highly probable that maize, cotton, and the banana, had been brought from Asia to the great west coast. But the supposed epoch of this alleged immigration must carry us back to the earliest ages; for, that the Incas were (as the greater number of inquirers into Peruvian history pretend) of Asiatic origin, is a mere vague hypothesis, unsupported by anything approximating to historical proof.

Since the earthquake of 1687 the crops of maize on the Peruvian coast have been very inconsiderable. In the mountainous parts it is somewhat more abundant, but still far from sufficient to supply the wants of the country. Chile supplies, in return for sugar, the maize required in Peru. Of the other kinds of grain barley only is raised; but it does not thrive on the coast, and is cultivated successfully at the height of from 7000 to 13,200 feet above the level of the sea. The assertion of some travellers, that barley was known to the Peruvians before the arrival of the Spaniards, is groundless. It is true that barley is sometimes found in pots in Indian graves. Those graves, however, as I have had repeated opportunities of being convinced, belong, without exception, to modern times, chiefly to the seventeenth century.

Potatoes are not planted on the coast, where, it appears, the climate and soil are unfavorable to them. In those parts they are small and watery. On the higher ridges which intersect the coast at short distances from the sea, the potatoe grows wild. I am inclined to believe that the root is indigenous in these parts, as well as in Chiloe and Chile, and that the ancient Peruvians did not obtain this root from the south, but that they removed it from their own high lands in order to cultivate it on a more favorable soil.[40] The best potatoe grows about twenty-two leagues from Lima, in Huamantanga, which is about 7000 feet above the level of the sea, to the north-west of the Quebrada of Canta. This potatoe is small and round, with a thin white skin, and when bisected the color is a clear bright yellow. It is called the Papa amarilla, and there is much demand for it in the markets, where it fetches a good price. The other potatoes come chiefly from the Quebrada of Huarochirin, and they are very well flavored.

The Camotes (Convolvulus batatas, L.), not improperly called sweet potatoes, grow to a considerable size. There are two kinds of camotes, the yellow and the violet; the latter are called Camotes moradas. These two kinds are much liked for their excellent flavor. Beyond the height of 3500 feet above the level of the sea they cease to grow.

The Aracacha (Conium moschatum, H. B. Kth.) grows on the coast, but it is more abundant on the projecting ridges of the Cordilleras, and on the eastern declivity of the Andes. It is a very agreeable and nutritive kind of tuberous vegetable, in flavor not unlike celery. It is cooked by being either simply boiled in water, or made into a kind of soup. In many districts the aracacha yields two crops in the year.

The Yucca (Jatropha manihot) is one of the finest vegetables of Peru. The stalk of the plant is between five and six feet high, and about the thickness of a finger. The roots are from one to two feet long, somewhat of the turnip form. Internally they are pure white; but the external skin is tough, somewhat elastic, and of a reddish-brown color. The roots are the edible parts of the plant. They are very agreeable in taste, and easy of digestion. When raw they are hard and tough, and their taste somewhat resembles chestnuts. When boiled in water the root separates into fibres, and is rather waxy, but when laid in hot ashes it becomes mealy.

In some parts of Peru the Indians prepare a very fine flour from the yucca, and it is used for making fine kinds of bread, and especially a kind of biscuits called biscochuelos. The yucca roots are not good after they have been more than three days out of the earth, and even during that time they must be placed in water, otherwise green or black stripes appear on them, which in the cooking assume a pale red color. Their taste is then disagreeable, and they quickly become rotten.

To propagate the yucca the stalk is cut, particularly under the thick part, into span-long pieces, which are stuck obliquely into the earth. In five or six months the roots are fit for use, but they are usually allowed to remain some time longer in the earth. The stalks are sometimes cut off, and the roots left in the earth. They then put forth new leaves and flowers, and after sixteen or eighteen months they become slightly woody. The Indians in the Montaña de Vitoc sent as a present to their officiating priest a yucca, which weighed thirty pounds, but yet was very tender. On the western declivity of the Cordillera, the boundary elevation for the growth of the yucca is about 3000 feet above the level of the sea.