Inca Food

The ingredients use to prepare the inca food were extremely healthy, reason why the incas life expectations were very high; It has been found bones of the incas royal family with and estimated age of death of 100 years; The incas eat a large variety of vegetables, roots and meat from different animals, almost zero cholesterol and a life of daily healthy exercise on the fields growing their crops, was the formula for such long life expectations.

The inca food vegetables are: The corn, the incas use it to prepare bread, they boil it, it was use in soups, they use the corn to prepare an alcoholic beverage; The corn is originally from Mexico and we know that it arrive to Peru about 5000 ago, but it was the incas who adapt the corn to grow up to 3600mt over the sea level; The Zapallo (type of pumpkin) was another vegetable, the incas eat it boiled, in soups and stewed, this plant is originally from Peru but it is not clear when it was domesticated.

The world most popular inca food vegetable is the potato; The andes mountains have 4049 know varieties of potato and Peruvians use 2301 of the eatable variates; The incas boil potatoes and they use it in soups and stewed; The potato was domesticated more than 8000 years ago, during the process of the domestication of the potato, several hybrids born, like for example, the Añus (type of tuber), it is bitter and it can only be eat it boiled; The Batata (sweet potato) is an hybrid as well, created from the potato about 5000 years ago.

The inca food vegetables have a lot of potato hybrids and they are: The olluco (type of tuber), great flavor and viscous consistency, it was boiled, smashed, used in soups and stewed with dry llama meat, created from the potato about 5500 years ago, today you can find over 70 varieties of ollucos in the Peruvian markets; The Oca (type of tuber), quite similar to the olluco, it has an extraordinary resistance to plagues and temperature drop down or severe changes of climate, after the potato this is the second most popular crops in the Andes today.

The inca spices are: The Axi or Aji (Peruvian hot pepper), it has a spice fruity flavor, they are yellow, red and green, today it is the most popular spice for the Peruvian people, from the richest to the poorest; The Cuchuchu root was use to improve the digestion of the inca people, they wash it and eat it uncooked; The Coca plant was use it when heavy duty work has to be done, when chewed the coca leaf acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain and fatigue.

The seeds of the inca food diet are: The Quinua (It is a pseudo cereal), domesticated over 6000 years ago, it was the cereal of the incas, today it has been use for the NASA to feed the astronauts, due its great contain of protein and vitamins; The peanuts were domesticated by the incas over 5000 years ago, they make oil from it and they toasted and eat it with honey; The Purutu and the Tarhui (type of beans) were boiled or stewed with alpaca or llama meat.

The fruits of the inca food diet are: The Lucuma (subtropical fruit of the Andes), it was the most delicious inca delicacy, today is the most popular ice cream flavor in Peru; The Pepino (sweet pepino), it is extremely sweet and contains 92 percent of water; The Guayabas (Psidium guajava) original from Mexico, it arrive to Peru about 3500 years ago; The Sauintu (passion fruit) originally from the Andes, it was another inca delicacy; The incas eat bananas, pineapples and plums, as well.

The meat of the inca food diet was: The Huanacos, Llamas and Alpacas (South American camelids), 9000 years ago they were hunted, the llamas were domesticated about 8000 years ago; The cuy (Guinean pig), it is originally from the Andes and it was domesticated about 7000 years ago; The incas describe a fish call Challua, that has a big head and soft skin, it was eat it boiled or in soups; Another fish describe by the incas was a fish found in the Titicaca lake call Suchi, it was a big fish that always was fried with its own fat.

I have describe you few ingredients of the inca food diet, some of them are quite known in the world today, sad thing is that many people do not know the great inputs of the inca culture and the cultures before them to the todays world food supply; Think about it?, without the incas we will not have potatoes for French fries, peanut butter or cornflakes, for sure our world will not be the same.

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