Food of the Andes

Red, red meat in the Andes

The Pollan book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has me spellbound, so shocking in its reality of the US food chain. Makes me want to study, in a similar manner, the food systems in the countries of the Andes. Since the lands in the Sierra are not suited to industrial farming (the gorgeous Andes jut up and out, not permitting much mechanization of our volcanic soils), corn and soybeans cannot be the staples of these small countries with jagged terrains. High fructose corn syrup and all of the other horrible “goodies” so necessary to processed food are not produced here, even though a variety of corn (maíz) with kernels as large as the diameter of a dime may have originated here. In the 35 years I’ve lived and eaten and food talked here, I have seen the importance of corn in the diet dwindle. It is still very basic in most traditional dishes, but wheat in the form of white rolls (“pancitos”) and noodles (“fideos”) has definitely captured the paladar of urbanites.

Bueno, all that lead-in to let you know what is flipping around my head these days. Since subsidized corn from the US is bound to be much cheaper than any corn grown locally in the Andes, I wonder what percentage of beef here could be corn-fed….. I suspect most of it is free range, as is cattle in Argentina.

So, all of those studies about the pernicious results of eating red meat, I suspect they were based on corn-fed beef, with all of that delicious and dangerous marbling. This could explain why our ancestors could eat large quantities of red meat and not exhibit the public health symptoms we see these days. Beef is not beef; cornfed is one bad thing, grass fed is another story (“harina de otro costal”) .

I am in the midst of setting up interviews with two large meat producers and hope to get back to you with what I learn about the production techniques here, in this “underdeveloped” country.

And to tantilize your tastebuds I include a favorite soup of mine, made with beef. No, this is not another variation of Sancocho (the Andean versions of “cocidos” in Spain), so prevalent in countries of the Andes and their lowlands. I am sharing the preparation of a soup not known out of the Andes of Ecuador and presently primarily still enjoyed in the countryside. Timbusca’s luscious smooth broth (“caldo”) comes from ground, roasted peanuts and of course there is at least one huge potato in the center of the wide bowl. It’s a wonderfully light and stick to your ribs soup, all at the same time. Two bowls and you’ve had more than dinner!

I love the Andes. I’ve lived and cooked there for more than 30 years. And I’ve written a cookbook which has sold more than 40,000 copies – Foods of Ecuador (Comidas del Ecuador). Now when I hear about Latino foods I’d like to think that our offerings, straight from the peoples of the glaciers and their country-folk on the coast were part of this cuisine. What I generally find is lots of material on Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and I wonder where is South America….

Well, let’s start by presenting it to you, the world. The foods of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and the indigenous parts of Argentina and Chile are incredibly varied, full of new flavors and extremely interesting ingredients. Peru uses various dried chiles (ajíes) in dishes which link Inca, Spanish, Arab and Asian touches. Peru and Bolivia also use potatoes in ways you would never believe. In coastal Ecuador and the Pacific coast of Colombia, green plantains meld with seafood and coconut in smooth, rounded flavors. All of these countries have so much to offer the culinary world. Oh, and I particularly adore the mother grain quinoa. I prepare it in some of the traditional ways (like in soup or “atamalado”, still need to perfect quinoa “chicha”, the fermented drink of the Incas) AND I also use it in creations like popped quinoa in chocolate chip cookies or made into a pilaf to fill vegetables and smothered with dried porcini bechamel. In fact, porcinis are now grown and exported from the Andes, all over the world.

I’d love to share with you this ancient, delicious culinary heritage. Let me know what most interests you and I’ll do my best to answer questions, post recipes, to food talk the Andean way.