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Potatoes comprised about 10% of the caloric intake of Europeans. Along with several other foods that either originated in the Americas or were successfully grown or harvested there, potatoes sustained European populations. [47] The potato promoted economic development in Britain by underpinning the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. It ...
After fall harvest (April–May), potatoes are selected for the production of chuño, typically small ones for ease of processing. These small potatoes are spread closely on flat ground, and allowed to freeze with the low night temperatures and dehydrate in the daytime, for about three nights. This process results in natural freeze-drying.
The most important ingredient in all Peruvian cuisine is the potato, as Peru has the widest variety of potatoes in the world. American food critic Eric Asimov has described it as one of the world's most important cuisines and as an exemplar of fusion cuisine, due to its long multicultural history. [1]
Most Andean crops and domestic animals were likewise pristine—not known to other civilizations. Potatoes and quinoa were among the many unique crops; Camelids (llamas and alpacas) and guinea pigs were the unique domesticated animals. The Inca civilization [2] was predominantly agricultural. The Incas had to overcome the adversities of the ...
The potato (/ p ə ˈ t eɪ t oʊ /) is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground tubers of the plant Solanum tuberosum, a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United States to southern Chile.
Grown primarily by Quechua and Aymara farmers, oca has been a staple of rural Andean diets for centuries. [4] Of all Andean root and tuber crops, oca is currently second only to potato in area planted within the Central Andean region. [3] Oca is essential to local food security because of its role in crop rotations and its high nutritional content.
Aside from certain cultures, particularly in the arid northwest coast of Peru and northern Andes, pre-colonial Andean civilizations did not have strong traditions of market-based trade. Like Mesoamerican pochteca traders, there was a trading class known as mindaláes in these northern coastal and highland societies. [ 1 ]
Andean farmers must contend with the severe fluctuations in temperature, the unpredictability of the rainy season, and a multitude of pest threats on the daily. [4] To cope with such challenges, many farmers try protect their crops by cultivating a diverse array of species rather than a monoculture.