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

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

In Lima the Chirimoya is comparatively small, often only the size of an orange. Those who have tasted it only in Lima, can form but a very imperfect idea of its excellence. In Huanuco, its indigenous soil, it grows in the greatest perfection, and often attains the weight of sixteen pounds, or upwards. The fruit is of roundish form, sometimes pyramidal, or heart-shaped, the broad base uniting with the stem. Externally it is green, covered with small knobs and scales, and often has black markings like net-work spread over it. When the fruit is very ripe, it has black spots. The skin is rather thick and tough. Internally, the fruit is snow-white and juicy, and provided with a number of small seeds well covered with a delicate substance. The Chirimoyas of Huanuco are also distinguished from those of the coast by having only from four to six seeds; whereas on the coast they are found with from twenty-five to thirty. The question as to what the taste of this fruit may be compared with, I can only answer by saying, that it is incomparable. Both the fruit and flowers of the Chirimoya emit a fine fragrance, which, when the tree is covered with blossom, is so strong as to be almost overpowering. The tree which bears this finest of all fruits is from fifteen to twenty feet high. It has a broad flat top, and is of a pale-green color.

The Palta (Persea gatissima, Gärt.) is a fruit of the pear form, and dark-brown in color. The rind is tough and elastic, but not very thick. The edible substance, which is soft and green, encloses a kernel resembling a chestnut in form and color. This fruit is very astringent and bitter, and on being cut, a juice flows from it which is at first yellow, but soon turns black. The taste is peculiar, and at first not agreeable to a foreigner; but it is generally much liked when the palate becomes accustomed to it. The fruit of the Palta dissolves like butter on the tongue, and hence it is called in some of the French colonies beurre végétale. It is sometimes eaten without any accompaniment, and sometimes with a little salt, or with oil and vinegar. The kernels make very good brandy. The Palta-tree is slender and very high, with a small dome-like top. On the eastern declivity of the Andes, I have seen some of these trees more than sixty feet high.

The Platanos (Bananas) thrive well in most of the Peruvian plantations. They require great heat and humidity. They grow in the greatest perfection on the banks of small rivulets. On the coast the tree does not yield such abundance of fruit as in the woody regions, where it is not unusual to see a tree with three hundred heads of fruit lying one over another, like tiles on a roof. In the country adjacent to Lima, and also on other parts of the coast, three favorite species are cultivated. The Platano de la Isla, or of Otaheite, was introduced from that archipelago in 1769. The fruits are from three to four inches long, generally prismatic, as they grow thickly on the stem, and lie one over another. The skin is yellow, the fruit of a palish red, and rather mealy. The Limeños prefer this to any other species of the platano, and they consider it the most wholesome. The fruits of the Platano Guineo are not longer, but much thicker than those of the Platano de la Isla, but they are so full that they burst when quite ripe. They are straight and cylindrical in form, as they grow on the stem at some distance one from the other. They are of a bright yellow color, but near the stem spotted with black. The edible part is whiter and softer than that of the Platano de la Isla, to which it is greatly superior in flavor and aroma. The natives believe this fruit to be very unwholesome, and they maintain that drinking brandy after eating Platanos Guineos causes immediate death. This is, as my own often-repeated experiments have shown, one of the deep-rooted, groundless prejudices to which the Peruvians obstinately cling. On one of my excursions I had a controversy on this subject with some persons who accompanied me. To prove how unfounded their notions were, I ate some platanos, and then washing down one poison by the other, I immediately swallowed a mouthful of brandy. My Peruvian friends were filled with dismay. Addressing me alternately in terms of compassion and reproach, they assured me I should never return to Lima alive. After spending a very agreeable day, we all arrived quite well in the evening at Lima. At parting, one of my companions seriously observed that we should never see each other again. Early next morning they anxiously called to inquire how I was, and finding me in excellent health and spirits, they said:—"Ah! you see, an herege de gringo (a heretic of a foreigner) is quite of a different nature from us." A piece of the Platano Guineo soaked in brandy retains its color unchanged; but the rib-like fibres which connect the rind with the pulp then become black, and imbibe a bitter taste.

The fruit of the third kind of platano, the Platano Largo, is from six to eight inches long, rather narrow, and curved crescent-wise. The rind is of a light straw color, and when the fruit is very ripe it has large black spots. The edible part is of a whitish hue, harder and drier than that of the two species already described; and its flavor its quite as agreeable. Its fruit is less abundant than that of the Platano Guineo, and it requires longer time to become fully ripe. A fourth kind, which grows in the forest regions, I have never seen on the coast. It is the Platano Altahuillaca. It bears at most from twenty to twenty-five heads of fruit. The stem is more than two inches thick, and above an ell long. The color of the husk is light yellow, the enclosed substance is white, tough, and hard. In the raw state it is flavorless, but when roasted in hot ashes, or cooked with meat, it makes a fine dish.

When the platanos of the uppermost row, that is, those which form the base of the conical-formed reflex cluster, begin to turn yellow, or, as the natives say, pintar, the whole is cut off, and hung up in an airy, shady situation, usually in an apartment of the Rancho, or hut, where it may quickly ripen. The largest fruits are cut off as soon as they are yellow and soft, and so the cutting goes on gradually up to the top, for they ripen so unequally that those at the base show symptoms of decay while those at the top are still hard and green. As soon as the cabeza, or cluster of fruit, is cut, the whole branch is immediately lopped off, in order to facilitate the shooting of the fresh sprouts. Each branch bears only one cabeza, and eight or ten months are the period usually required for its complete development.

The platanos belongs indisputably to the most useful class of fruit trees, especially in regions where they can be cultivated extensively, for then they may very adequately supply the place of bread. In northern Peru and Guayaquil, the platano fruit is prepared for food in a variety of ways.

Pine-apples (Ananas) are not much cultivated on the coast of Peru. The market of Lima was formerly entirely supplied with this fruit from the Montaña de Vitoc. When brought from thence they used to be cut before they were ripe, and packed on the backs of asses. The journey is of sixteen or twenty days' duration, and the road lies across two of the Cordilleras. After being several days in the cold snowy region of the Puna, the fruit came to Lima in a very indifferent state; but since the communication by steam navigation with Guayaquil, pine-apples are brought from the latter place in large quantities. They are large, succulent, and very sweet.

The Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis) is about the size of an apple, but rather oblong. The skin is reddish-yellow, hard, and rather thick. The edible part is grey and gelatinous, and it contains numerous dark-colored seeds. The fruit is very agreeable, and in taste resembles the gooseberry, and is very cooling. The Granadilla is a shrub or bush, and it twines round the trunks of trees, or climbs up the walls of the Ranchos. It is less abundant on the coast than in the adjacent valleys.

The Tunas are fruits of different species of Cactus. The husk, which is covered with sharp prickles, is green, yellow, or red in color, and is easily separated from the pulp of the fruit. When being plucked, the tunas are rubbed with straw to remove the prickles, which, however, is not always completely accomplished. It is therefore necessary to be cautious in handling the husks, for the small prickles cause inflammation when they get into the fingers.

The Pacay is the fruit of a tree of rather large size (Prosopis dulcis, Humb.), with a rather low and broad top. It consists of a pod from twenty to twenty-four inches long, enclosing black seeds, which are embedded in a white, soft, flaky substance. This flaky part is as white as snow, and is the only eatable part of the fruit. It tastes sweet, and, to my palate at least, it is very unpleasant; however, the Limeños on the coast and the monkeys in the woods are very fond of the pacay.