Book of Days Tales

Today indigenous Inca throughout the Peruvian Andes celebrate Inti Raymi, the winter solstice.  I spend a certain amount of energy twice a year reminding people in the northern hemisphere that the southern hemisphere exists too, and that for us (when I am in Argentina) the June solstice is the shortest day of the year, harbinger of winter.  Inti Raymi is an ancient celebration of the sun god Inti, and is one of four major Inca seasonal festivals.  The pre-conquest ceremonies were described by Garcilaso de la Vega in Comentarios Reales de los Incas (Royal Chronicles of the Incas), published in Lisbon in 1609.  Garcilasco de la Vega  was in a unique position to document the traditions of the Inca because he was born in the Inca capital, Cusco, of a Spanish aristocratic conquistador, and a royal Incan mother.

Inti Raymi was attended by people from across the Incan empire who brought foods representative of their native regions.  These were all eaten together as symbolic of the unity of the empire.  Nowadays this festal dish is recreated in plates of chiriuchu which can be bought from street vendors throughout Cusco during the festival.  There is no real recipe. It has base of corn with chopped guinea pig meat, llama or alpaca jerky, and sausage on top of that (sometimes with chicken as well). Next comes white cheese from the neighboring highlands, torreja (a crisp omelet with corn flour, compis potatoes, yellow squash, onion greens, and local spices). This mélange is all topped with seaweed and fish eggs from the coast, with a garnish of rocoto pepper at the apex. Good luck finding the ingredients to make this at home.  Just go to Cusco and enjoy it there. It is a huge plate of food because it is meant to be shared.

I have struggled with finding a recipe suitable for the day because all indigenous Incan dishes have since been heavily influenced by Spanish ingredients and techniques (as well as by well-meaning foodies).  Here is a recipe of mine that does not do too much violence to traditional methods and ingredients and includes only ingredients indigenous to the Americas.  Its base is the grain quinoa (pronounced KEEN-owah) which is becoming increasingly popular in the West because of its high protein content.  It can be found at health food stores and large supermarkets.  To cook it, rinse it thoroughly in cold water, then simmer it for about 15 minutes using 2 parts water to one part grain.  I am giving proportions in my recipe here rather than specific measurements just to be a bit more traditional and to give the cook some scope for variation. This type of salad is often served throughout Latin America as a side dish accompanying grilled meats which could be llama, alpaca, or guinea pig.

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

2 parts cooked quinoa
1 part cooked corn kernels
1 part cooked beans (black or pink add some color)
1 chopped tomato per 2 parts quinoa
2 chopped green onions per tomato
chopped cilantro to taste
chopped hot pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice to taste

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, and chill well before serving. (Well, what did you expect!).