With all the traveling potatoes did, makes me appreciate them a little better. Also, I remember. the story of the Irish potato fanime. Dickie Smothers told it well.
Interesting. I have done a lot of medical missions to Peru, and been up in the Andes (spectacular, btw, let me attach a cool - to me - photo. I took the picture, and yet it still doesn't seem real). I was surprised, food wise, by two things. 1) there are what seems like hundreds of types of potatoes, every color, and they grow way up where I would have assumed coffee would be the primary crop. 2) ceviche is kind of the national dish, even inland. There are a similar myriad variety of peppers, I've been a lot of places and Peru is one that I consider the food/cooking to be quite unique. So, this photo is the Sacred Valley, in the Andes (those gorgeous mountains in the background), and in one of the little towns at the base of Machu Picchu. This is the step outside our hotel. It is at about 11000 feet.
Last edited by acorgihouse; February 4, 2024, 09:44 AM.
Our daughter lives in Santiago, and worked in Peru for a time. We traveled for the wedding, and they treated us to Peruvian food; it is incredible. Her in-laws grow aji peppers like we grow bell peppers, and eating Peruvian potatoes is like eating heirloom tomatoes; each one tastes different, and each is also unmistakably a potato.
Panhead John I never saw that thread, to my knowledge. I don't travel like I used to, but I have tons of photos from all over the world. I'm going to peruse that thread, might add a few. Don't want to bore anyone, but some interesting places you never really see in travel photos. Mosca I love the food of South America. I would move there if it was easier to move my dog, and if my Spanish was better. The peppers impressed me maybe more than the potatoes, I brought back some jarred once, since then I've made do with aji amarillo and aji rocoto that I get in jars at the "Latin" market, but thinking I should order some seeds. I want huacatay also, I can sub regular mint but not exactly same. Thanks for the reminder. bmillin we did not rafft. That was the sign for little English speaking market next to hotel, they also had nail salon, massages, and all manner of Pepto Bismol and such, IIRC. Raffting (sic) the headwaters of the amazon, at that elevation, when we were all in sweaters and jackets, did not appeal. We were staging for Machu Picchu. CaptainMike never the guinea pigs. In that photo above, the break in wall on right goes into a courtyard, for a meat shop. Live guinea pigs running around on the floor, you can pick out and take them dead or alive, similar to lobsters in a tank. They are on all the restaurant buffets. I can't even... never tried, never will, don't get it. The nine kinds of ceviche though.. I'm right there
Edit: now that Panhead John has me thinking about it, changing (temporary, so Vivy isn't offended) my avatar photo to me in Honnensvag, Norway, on midsummer night. 10pm, full sun, heading up to the north cape of Norway (northernmost point of Europe) for the midnight sun.
Last edited by acorgihouse; February 4, 2024, 02:01 PM.
When in Belize we enjoyed eating Gibnut, a rodent similar to guinea pig. Prepared braised in a rich sauce, very tasty, but also fatty, so a little went a long way. If you don't think of them as rodents, but rather just a local protein, they're good eats.
Not about potatoes, but about Peru: In today's NYT there is a recipe that looks good. I will try to paste here if I can do on this work computer.
cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1010974-peruvian-roasted-chicken-with-spicy-cilantro-sauce
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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I love potatoes. Rarely ever eat them. However, a huge russet potato with a boat load of butter, then salt, cheese, pork belly and creama. Man, that is tough to beat, my friends.
I am actually reading a book right now called, 1491-New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. Contrary to popular believe the "New World" was not some "Garden of Eden" untouched by the hand of people or advanced civilization. Fascinating book, there is a lot of talk of maize, potatoes and agriculture as a whole before Europeans ever made the trip across the pond. I highly recommend this to anyone. I was more interested in the flora and fauna of that time, but there is a ton of information on culture, food and agriculture as well.
My favorite quote from the article regarding taxing wheat production:: “Above ground, it’s an unassuming plant that doesn’t draw much attention to itself. Below ground, however, there’s a whole world of nutritious goodness! Out of sight, out of mind.
It’s intriguing that the potato didn’t migrate north from the Andes to North America but instead had to be cultivated in Ireland first before coming across the pond.
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