222 transactions of the american institute. 



Potato. 



" The potato is more used tlian any other article of food in Peru, where; 

 as it is well known, it is indigenous. It is not extensively cultiv^ated on 

 the coast, but on the first range of ridges inland it grows in great perfec- 

 tion. The best varietj' is the Papa amaniUa or j'ellow patato, which is 

 unsurpassed for richness and flavor. It is grown in the Camas ten to twenty 

 leagues back of Lima, and does not appear to bear transportation from 

 certain favored localities. I am told it degenerates into the ordinary 

 potato if planted on the coast or taken higher up in the Sierra. 



" High up in the Cordilleras of the Andes, the potato forms, with the 

 quinua, the chief support of the people. Here, however, it is small, and 

 presents several rather widely separated varieties, viz: theUUuco Oca, and 

 Maca. The Ulluco is small, seldom laiger than the English walnut, round 

 and watery, of rather a sweet taste. Its leaf is like that of the potato, but 

 smaller. The 3Iaca is another fig-shaped variety, very sweet and subject 

 to ferment. The Oco {oxalis tuberosa) is extensively produced. It resem- 

 bles somewhat our " Lady Finger" potato, seldom more than four inches 

 long, and little if any thicker than the middle finger. It is generally a 

 beautiful clear pink, darker in the eyes, but sometimes is prettily varie- 

 gated with yellow and pink. Like the others just mentioned it is sweetish, 

 very pleasant to the taste when boiled or roasted. The Ulluco, Maca, and 

 Oca are almost always subjected to a course of alternate exposure to frost 

 at night and sun by day, before eaten. The Oca by this process becomes 

 mealy, and loses the slightly sickening taste which it possesses when 

 freshly taken from the earth. The Maca is thus exposed f(n* a long time, 

 until well dried, and then put in a cool dry place for preservation. The 

 Ulluco, through this process, may be preserved for years. 



" The common form in which the potato is used or offered for sale in the 

 elevated departments of Junin, Aqucucho, Cusco, and Puno, as well as in 

 high Bolivia, is that of chuno. The chuno negro, or black chuno, is made 

 of the ordinary edible potato, and the chuno bianco, or white chuno, of a 

 larger and bitter variety, which is more productive than the other. The 

 potatoes are exposed on a smooth piece of ground, slighly covered with 

 ichu grass, sometimes on clothes spread on the ground, and allowed to 

 freeze at night and thaw by day for from fifteen to thirty days, being fre- 

 quently turned, until they become perfectly dry, when they are stowed 

 awaj'- for use, or packed in bags for exportation. Many roach the towns 

 and cities of the coast, and are much valued for use in that abominable 

 drench or stew called chupe. In taste the chuno, when boiled, is something 

 like the boiled Spanish chestnut. To the teeth its feel is like what I sup- 

 pose that of half-decayed gutta percha might be. The potatoes are some- 

 times soaked in water for some days before being exposed as above de- 

 scribed. Another way of preparing the potato for preservation is to boil 

 it, peel it, and then expose it as before. The objects of this process seem 

 to be the longer preservatiim of the potato, for as chuno they will keep for 

 years, the reduction of bulk and weight for ease of transportation, a mat- 

 ter of importance in those mountain regions, and finally to render the vege- 

 table mealy and more easy of use. Foreigners generall}' acquire speedily 

 a taste for the chuno, and prefer it to the potato in its other forms. Per- 



