Archaeologists digging at an Inca site on the arid coast of southern Peru have unearthed two rare, roughly 500-year-old freeze-dried potatoes. The potatoes are among the only ones found in more than a century and would have been transported across the empire from the freezing peaks of the Andes.
This is how the Incas and other Andes peoples would store their crops-- they’d mash it down in two stages by dint of their feet, and then the potatoes would store indefinitely.
Even better than bread and beer storage of grains, and potatoes are more nutritious than either, to boot.
Plus the freezing — you need ice crystals to form so they rupture the cell walls, and let the water flow out. That’s why chuño was originally made around those times (June, July) and in high altitude fields, to increase the odds the taters would freeze through the night and thaw back in the morning.
Yup. At least in raw calories. I think potatoes have a lower protein content, but that (and fat) can be supplemented with some dried meat, legumes, fresh veggies and fruits.
That said they did have maize beer; called chicha de jora (Spanish) / aqa (Quechua). But it was more for the booze during festivals than as calorie storage.
Ah yes, the freezing. My ancestors would be disappointed in me for leaving that out(!)
Not sure about the protein content of potatoes vs. grains, but IIRC, the vitamin & mineral content is generally superior. Potatoes are a complete superfood one can live on for long periods, again if I’m remembering correctly.
I suppose if I ever go back, I might try chicha again. Was really unimpressed the last couple times I tried it, heh.
Good catch on the minerals. Potatoes also have vitamin C, but I think chuño loses it (vitamin C is rather fragile, odds are it doesn’t survive the process). Protein-wise I just checked it; 3% in potatoes, 8~12% in wheat.
It’s a lot like grain beer, in the sense taste varies wildly, depending on a thousand things. For example, I had a friend from the region sharing his homemade chicha with me once; it was quite sweet and sour, but barely any alcohol. But when I tried my hand at it, the result was way sharper, and way stronger than grain beer.