QUINOA 



QUINOA (Chenopodium quinoa) is an annual plant, a native 

 of Peru. It is a large growing plant, having stems 

 4 to 6 feet high and large pointed leaves of a woolly 

 nature. It is rarely grown in this country, but in 

 America its seeds are much employed in cookery. In 

 the mountainous parts of the Cordilleras the Quinoa was 

 at the time of the Conquest by the Spaniards much 

 used, being the chief farinaceous seed used for food, 

 and travellers inform us that now it forms with the 

 Potato the common food by those who cannot afford 

 more expensive foods. The seeds are the edible 

 portion used, and these are largely used in soups and 

 made into bread, and the latter is considered to be 

 digestible ; also when fermented a kind of beer is made, 

 the seed being mixed with millet ; and they are largely 

 used for feeding poultry. It will be seen that the plant 

 is valuable in the countries named ; moreover, in addi- 

 tion to the seeds, the young tender leaves are gathered 

 and cooked like Spinach. In this country the seeds 

 are not much sought after, as they have a peculiar 

 acrid taste, and so far I have never heard of anyone 

 getting rid of this bitter flavour no matter how the seeds 

 were cooked. It may be that owing to the plants requiring 

 a longer season to perfect their growth in this country 

 this bitter taste is the result, but as the same thing 

 occurs in France, it appears that the Quinoa is not at 

 its best grown in certain soils. There are several 

 varieties of this plant, and it is the white one that is 

 used for food, the others have red and black seeds, 



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