ANDEAN CHARD (ACELGA)..

Acelga is translated in English as Swiss chard, strawberry spinach, sea kale, leaf beet, spinach beet, Roman kale. Its Latin name is Beta Vulgaris. Beta is the Roman (Latin) word for beets.
Swiss chard is technically referred to as Coastal Beet, because it originally thrived in salty soil found along coasts.
Acelga possesses an impressive amount of phyto-nutrients which are the source of anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant properties. It is a good source of vitamin K, C, A, potassium, magnesium, dietary fiber and iron. The anti-oxidants such as carotenoid, betalain, and poliphenol prevent the free radical damage and inflammation. It also helps to maintain the level of blood sugar in the body.
Iron and copper deficiency results in anemia due to symptoms as fatigue, weakness, lack of concentration, and stomach disorders. The consumption of Acelga helps to enhance the circulation of blood and oxygenation of all the organs in the human body.
Here is the recipe for Acelga Pie. Not only it is healthy and delicious. It is also incredible practical, as one tart will last for a few days, cutting a slice and eat it day by day, either hot or cold, with a squeeze of lime. This is favorite to put in lunch boxes, or as a light dinner.

Ingredients for Crust: 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup of quinoa flour; 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature; 1/2 cup vegetable shortening; 3 egg yolks; 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar; 1 tsp of salt; 1 tsp of sugar; 1/2 cup of iced water. For blending use 1/4 cup flour for rolling the dough.

Ingredients for filling: 4 cups fresh acelga (or swiss chard) leaves chopped; 4 cups of fresh spinach leaves chopped; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced; 1 purple onion, peeled and diced; 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese; 6 whole eggs; 2 tablespoon of butter; 1 tablespoon of white flour; 1/8 tsp of pepper;
pinch of nutmeg; pinch of salt.

Ingredients for the glaze: 1 beaten egg with 1 Tbsp of evaporated milk and a pinch of salt

Preparation:

Filling: Heat a skillet over medium to high heat. Add butter and let it be dissolved. Then add onions, salt and pepper. Saute the onions until they become translucent. Mix in spinach, stir, and continue to saute until the spinach is wilted and reduced. remove from heat, transfer to a strainer and place it inside a bowl and set it aside. Let it cool off and then add the parmesan cheese.

Crust: Sift the flour into a bowl. Add salt, butter, white wine vinegar, egg yolks, and mix well by hand. Add 4 tablespoon of cold water and continue to shape the dough until it forms a firm ball. If using a food processor, combine flours, butter, vegetable shortening, 1 teaspoon of salt, and sugar. Pulse the mixture until it resembles oatmeal. Add the iced water slowly (5-6 Tablespoons) and pulse until a dough forms. Wrap in plastic film or put it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 45 minutes. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. (When preparing dough, add more water or flour if needed in order to obtain a firm texture that can be rolled without being too sticky or dry.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grab a pie dish and set it aside. Transfer the crust onto a floured working surface. Dust some extra flour on the crust and the rolling pin. Working quickly, roll the pie crust until it is about the size of the pie dish, turning it over, dusting it with flour occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick onto the work surface. Transfer it onto the pie dish. Use the fingers to gentle tuck the crust inside the dish allowing the rest to drape over. Use a fork and prick the pie crust all over. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, cool off.

Pour the filling over the pie crust and flatten. make 6 small holes (1 in each direction) in the filling and gentle drop on egg into each one. Grab the rest of the pie crust and drape it over on top of the filling and gather the edges to seal the pie. Brush the glaze all over the top and prick again with a fork to let the steam be released while baking. Place it in the oven in the middle rack and bake for approximately 45-55 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown. Let cool and serve with lime wedges.

ANDEAN FILLED POTATOES, Papa Rellena..

Andean filled potatoes (Papas Rellenas), golden like the Incas, soft and warm like an embrace between two people, two nations, two continents, is a treat that Peruvian people have in their fast food list of eating habits.
The potato, from the perennial Solanum tuberosum, is the world's fourth largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize. There is evidence that the ancient Andean people were the first to cultivate potatoes as early as 10,000 BC in the highlands of South Eastern Peru and North Western Bolivia. The oldest archaeological findings were made in the area of Lake Titicaca, the area around Ayacucho and in the Valley of Chulca. The word "papa"is originally Quechua and simply means "tuber."
When the Europeans arrive to the Andean lands, they were the first outsiders who were benefited by the flavors of the immense variety of potatoes grown in the highlands. The Europeans carried them to the Old World and before the end of the 16th century, families of Basque sailors began to cultivate potatoes along the Biscay cast of Northern Spain. The the potatoes were introduced to Ireland in 1589 on the 40,000 acres of land near Cork. It took nearly 40 years the exodus of the potato to spread to the rest of Europe.
Eventually, farmers in Europe found potatoes easier to grow and cultivate than other staple crops, such as wheat and oats. Most importantly, it became known that potatoes contained most of the vitamins needed for sustenance, and they could be provided to nearly 10 people for each acre of cultivated land.
In the 1840s a major outbreak of a particular disease attacking the potatoes plant swept through Europe, wiping out the potato crop in many countries. The Irish working class lived largely on potatoes and they did only have a very few varieties of potato plants, and when the plant disease reached Ireland, their main staple food disappeared. This famine left many poverty-stricken families with no choice but to struggle to survive or emigrate out of Ireland. One million people left Ireland, mostly for Canada and the United States.
The mind of these folks did not work as the mind of the Andean people that developed so many varieties of potato plants (at least more than 3800 varieties) that survived at different altitude levels dryness of the soil, and exposed to different type of diseases. As wild potatoes taste bitter and contain small amount of toxins, early Andean people spent quite a bit of an effort to select the right tubers for cultivation that are more tasty and less toxic. In the course of the centuries the different varieties of the Andean potatoes developed a way to fight back against the odds of the forces of nature in order to survive in the Andean highlands and become an important staple food that today is produced and consumed in the whole world.
Using ingenuity and creativity the Andean people are the creators of the popular "papa rellena." Peruvian families have incorporated this simple recipe to their repertoires of food.

Ingredients:

10 medium white potatoes boiled
1 cup of lean ground beef
2 eggs beaten
2 boiled eggs chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon of Aji Panca
1 cup of purple chopped onion
5 seedless Peruvian botija olives chopped
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1 cup of flour
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon of salt for the meat
1/2 teaspoon of salt for the potatoes
1/8 teaspoon of pepper.

Preparation:

Heat a pan and place 2 tablespoon of oil, when it is very hot place the onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and fry until it turns golden in color. Add the Aji Panca and the ground beef and fry until the meat is very dry. Remove the pan from the heat and add the eggs, olives, and raisins.
Mash the potatoes until no lumps remain, add the salt and the two beaten eggs and mush them again. Divide the mixture in equal portions depending of the size of the potato. It can be small, medium or large. Divide the portion in two halves. Heap a full tablespoon of the filling in the center of the 1/2 portion. The place the 2 halves together and shape the potato forming a ball, and repeat the process until finishing the number of portions.
Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Gently roll the ball into the flower to coat and shake the excess flour, and repeat the process for each one of them. In an deep fryer, heat the oil to 375 degrees. If a saucepan is used, heat the oil and when the oil is hot fry the potato balls, a few at a time for 1-2 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve hot.

THE POPULAR MATE DE COCA.

The coca mate or coca tea is a millenary infusion that was and still is considered a miraculous plant endowed with extraordinary virtues. It is made of coca leaves typical of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia and its presentation is usually a tea packaged in filtered food paper that retains all its property.
It is traditionally used to relieve altitude thickness. The consumption of the mate, as well as the chewing of coca leaves increases the absorption of oxygen in the blood and helps to fight the altitude symptoms, as well as helping the digestion process (especially for its carminative effect for expulsion of the gas from the digestive tract). Diarrhea can be eliminated by the infusion of of four coca leaves in a cup of boiling water. Nausea and vomiting  can be addressed with the union of 5 coca leaves and two mint leaves in a jug of boiling water.
Likewise, infusions of these leaves are very useful to gargle for sore throats, for nervous pains, headaches, as well as to relieve infections and inflammations in the eyes, including conjunctivitis.
It is important to understand that the concept of  consuming the coca leaves and the drastically change of the plant when the Americans and the Europeans extracted cocaine, are two very different things. Cocaine is not a component of the tea that is made of only from selected and crushed leaves which keep 100 % of the healthy properties and vitamins that the coca plant has. Also when ingested in its natural way, it does not produce toxicity nor does it generate dependency. Cocaine as a drug is a totally different and much more recent phenomenon, not linked to any culture but rather to the enrichment of a few through the physical, psychological and social destruction of many. It is obtained when the plant is exposed to chemicals agents that when mixed together they evolve into a fatal weapon, a type of drug harmful to the human brain. Political and economic interests penalized the sacred plant, condemning it to disappear.
The coca leaf was and still is considered a divine plant. It was ritual component in ancient Andean cultures for millennia and has played a central role in the system of beliefs, customs and knowledge, embedded in the very peculiar and original world view. We must not forget that in the Andes, people lived and still they continue living at heights of over 4,000 meters above sea level. So coca was chewed by the ancient people to stimulate the normal function of their bodies in their long crossings between mountains and still is used as a natural, abundant and economic means to combat the effects of altitude and not for the mere pleasure of doing it.
The infusion of coca leaves contains vitamins A, E, B1, B2, B3, and C (ascorbic acid), proteins, macro and micro-elements (calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, and potassium), tannins and also a total of fourteen alkaloids that are responsible for its beneficial curative action. It helps to balance the biological instability produced by fatigue and stress.
The tea infusion is recommended for daily use as a preventive and curative product. It can be taken in the mornings, afternoons, or before going to bed.

ANDEAN CORN BEER.

The Andean corn beer (Chicha de Jora) was the traditional beverage of the ancient Andean people, and
the tradition still lives on today. It is a fermented alcoholic beverage derived from the Andean Jora corn. The way in which the corn beer is made and defined change depending on the region.
Generally speaking the Andean beverage is made with Andean Jora corn, a type of malted corn from the highlands. The specific type or combination of corn used in the making of "chicha de Jora" shows where it was made. Some add quinoa to give it consistency; then it is boiled. During the boiling, the liquid extracted from the mashing process is stirred and aereated so as to prevent over boiling, and then the beverage is placed in huge earthen vessels for several days with a hard form of sugar (Chancaca) that acts as an agent helping in the fermentation process. The liquid is then left seal and unattended for a week or so. Then the beverage is sieved. This is to separate the corn from the desire chicha.
The Andean corn beer has been prepared and consumed in communities throughout the Andes for millennia. There is archaeological evidence that elite women were responsible for brewing it. The ancient Andean people placed a great significance on their beer and the brewing process became a ritual carried out by  such small group of women. The Incas continued with the tradition and used the corn beer (chicha) for their ritual purposes and consumed it in vast quantities during religious festivals. Mills in which it was probably made were found in Machu Picchu. Women also were the ones who were taught the techniques of brewing the Jora corn in feminine schools (Aclla Wasi).
The traditional way in preparing the beverage is becoming increasingly rare. Only in a small number of towns and villages in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, it is still prepared. The brewing is still very popular throughout southern Peru.
There is a town called Chincheros that lies between Cuzco and Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. The town square features a giant statue of a man in traditional dress that looks like he is tipping back a jug of the homebrew beverage.
In Cuzco area, especially in the countryside, many "chicherias" are recognizable by the red flag or bag hanging on a pole outside. Often the recipient of the Andean beer will first drip a portion of the foamy top on the ground with the phrase "Pachamama, Blessed Earth." Pachamama is Quechua for "Earth Mother." This tradition of spilling the first portion of the beverage is a toast common in the highlands explained as giving the first fruits to the Mother Earth.

PERUVIAN ARROZ CON LECHE.

Rice is not native to the Americas but was introduced to Latin America by the Europeans at an early date with the Portuguese explorers that arrived to Brazil and the Spanish introduced its cultivation to several locations in Central and South America.
The origin of rice is buried in obscurity and the depths of time. Till today, we do not know when it was first discovered and perhaps this one fact we will never come to know. It is associated with wet, humid climate, though it is not a tropical plant. Puddling the soil and turning it to mud to break it down and prevent too much water running away and transplanting rice seedlings were refined in China. Both operations became integral parts of rice farming and widely practice to this day. With the development of puddling and transplanting, rice then was introduced in many civilizations in the the Old World, and it became truly a staple food that arrived very early to America lands during the process of Europe's great Age of Exploitation of new lands.
Brazil is Latin America's biggest rice producer, being the 9th larger producer worldwide and the biggest outside Asia.
Every country in Europe and Latin America claims this lovely pudding as their own, but some historians say this was a dessert known since ancient times in the Mediterranean lands. There, they cooked the rice in goat's milk and sweetened it with honey and dates. From this part of the world it found its way to the Middle East, and the Arabs introduced it in Europe, through Spain in the Middle Ages. The Spanish people who emigrated to the Americas brought their Arab cooks and recipes, along with sugar, rice and milk, unknown to the New World. With the passage of time it was improved with the touch of the flavor called Peru, the land of the king's food.
Peruvians are, and have always been fond of everything sweet. This dessert that sweetens life, Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding), is one of our favorites. Since the time that it arrived the Rice Pudding was and still is a staple in every household, in pastry shops and restaurants. Street vendors all over the country sell this comforting and delicious dessert served always warm, especially in winter time.
To this popular recipe you can add raisins, grated coconut, dried apricots, rum, amaretto or whiskey instead of vanilla essence.

Ingredients:
1 cup of white rice
7 cups of water
1/2 cup of orange peel.
1 tin evaporated milk
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cinnamon stick
7 cloves.
cinnamon powder
Preparation:
Pour water into a heavy saucepan with the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Bring to a boil for about 30 minutes in medium heat. Take away the orange peel and the cloves and add the rice and bring to a boil again in slow heat with a lead on for about 15 minutes.
Take the lid off and stir the mixture and continue cooking for about 10 more minutes in slow heat or until the water in no longer visible. Add the evaporated milk without stopping the stirring bringing it to a boil again until the mixture thickens again. Then add the sweetened condensed milk continuing the stirring until it gets creamy. Stir in the vanilla essence and pour the creamy rice into personal servings containers to let it cool. Sprinkle it with cinnamon powder and eat it cold or hot.
Preparation time: 5 minutes.  Cook time: 45 minutes.  Serves: 8

In Cuzco there is a different tradition for serving this dessert. It is served accompanied by a dessert made of from the purple corn, the king of the corns. Along the way it follows an Andean tradition called dualism where people around the world are organized into two parts that come together and make a whole. In this case the two served together are the white and the purple, the Europeans and the Andean people, rice and corn. This is like how Cuzco was divided in Inca times into Hanan Cuzco, the upper half and Hurin Cuzco, the lower half of the city.

CHARQUI, DRY LLAMA MEAT.

For thousands of years dried meat has been man's travel ration of choice. it provided a nutritious non-perishable and light-weight stable for men who had to be constantly on the move. It has played an important role in the survival of the Andean highlanders. Easily transportable, nutritious and boasting a prolonged life, no wonder "Charqui" was an important subsistence resource.
During the time of the Incas, "Charqui" was a luxury food to the royal class and was made available to the common folks during ceremonial occasions and military service. "Charqui" was demanded as a form of tax to be deposited in the state storehouses along the Inca road system to provision the army.
The Andean people continued the process of drying llama meat,"Charqui." The process started with salting de-boned meat of domesticated llamas to prevent it from spoiling. The strips of meat removed form the animal were pounded between to stones to make it thinner still and exposed to the natural elements in high altitudes during the driest and coldest months between May and August. The principal purpose and outcome of the process of drying the meat was to reduce water content, which inhibited the microbial growth, decreased overall bulk and weight, and caused a proportionate increase in salt, fat, protein and ash content by weight. The technique spread all over the Americas and then spread to Europe and the name eventually became modified to "jerky." Today jerky is mass produced for the North America and overseas market, and the most popular varieties are beef, pork, and turkey. Llama "Charqui" meanwhile still remains popular in Peru and the rest of the Andean lands of South America.
"Charqui" is made by different methods in different parts of South America: for example in Bolivia, what is called Charqui is dried meat with fragments of foot and skull left, and in Ayacucho region in Peru, meat simply dried on the bone is called Charqui. Meat dried at high elevations can be done with cold temperatures alone; meat dried at lower elevations is done by smoking or salting.
Llama is an animal that has been domesticated to transport goods for more than eight or so thousands of years by the Andean people. It was considered a sacred animal and never occurred a case of raising the animal only for the purpose of consuming its wool or meat. The animal was sacrificed as an offering to the forces of the universe for the continuity of their existence in the high high lands during ceremonial dates along the year. Then its wool was used for clothing and its meat for meals after the ceremonial festivity was concluded and everybody shared the meal until it was completely consumed.
The llama's meat is high in protein and low in fat making it a much leaner meat than other animals. The flavor lies somewhere between that of lamb and beef. It is definitively considered a healthy meat option to avoid cholesterol.
The Andean cuisine is very different from normal Peruvian food in general. The different specialties offer a complete llama dish with the flavor of unique grains, andean tubers of the region, and roots.
Preserved llama's "Charqui" can be later re-hydrated through prolonged water soaking and in this way it is commonly consumed in soups and stews.
The most popular way of preparing Llama "Charqui" is in the traditional dish "Olluco with Charqui."

Ingredients:

250 grams Dry Charqui
4 cups of Ollucos (or Yellow potatoes)
1 cup Chopped purple onion
2 tablespoon Aji panca paste
2 tablespoon Aji mirasol paste
1 tablespoon Garlic chopped
1 cup of chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoon White Vinegar
1/8 cup Oil (Vegetable or Canola)
2 tablespoon Parsley freshly chopped
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Pepper
1/2 Tsp Cumin


Instructions:

Re-hydrate the Charqui by soaking it in water for 24 hours. Break apart the meat by threading it to the thinest possible way and set it aside. Heat a pan on medium to high heat and add oil. When the oil is very hot fry all together the Charqui with onions, garlic, aji panca, aji mirasol. When everything is very golden in color, add the ollucos (andean potatoes), tomatoes, vinegar, salt, pepper, and cumin. Put a lid over the pan and let it cook in very low heat for about 30 minutes or until the ollucos are soft in texture. Serve with rice and fresh parsley.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: 40-45 Minutes
Serving: 4