QUINOA 
OuiNOA (Chenopodium qiiinod) 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. 
