The Inca nation were still settling down to new surroundings when the Spanish arrived during the 1530′s and, in the name of God, massacred an entire nation so technologically, scientifically, medically and agriculturally advanced that it astounds me the Spaniards got off so lightly and have never been reprimanded. Because the ancient Inca lacked a written language, the only clues they left us was through art, architecture and oral tradition – not too much in the form of culinary history. The Inca did have the khipu, however - patterned collections of strings

that were arranged by colour, fibre, twist and knots of   various sizes, at first thought to be only a sophisticated counting system for record keeping, but in 2002 researchers discovered that the  khipu (or quipu) could have been an early form of writing. “The Quipu is a system of knotted cords used by the Incas and its predecessor societies in the Andean region to store massive amounts of information important to their culture and civilization. The colors of the cords, the way the cords are connected together, the relative placement of the cords, the spaces between the cords, the types of knots on the individual cords, and the relative placement of the knots are all part of the logical-numerical recording. For example, a yellow strand might represent gold or maize; or on a population quipu the first set of

strands represented men, the second set women, and the third set the children. Weapons such as spears, arrows, or bows were similarly designated. The combination of fiber types, dye colors, and intricate knotting could be a novel form of written language, according to Harvard anthropologist Gary Urton. He claims that the quipus contain a seven-bit binary code capable of conveying more than 1,500 separate units of information. Quipus were knotted ropes using a positional decimal system. A knot in a row farthest from the main strand represented one, next farthest ten, etc. The absence of knots on a cord implied zero. Quipucamayocs, the accountants of the Inca Empire (called Tahuantinsuyu in old spelling Quechua) created and deciphered the quipu knots. Quipucamayocs were capable of performing simple mathematical calculations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing information for the indigenous people. In the absence of written records the quipus served as a means of recording history and passed on to the next generation, which used them as reminders of stories. An thus these primitive computers – quipus – had knotted in their memory banks the information which tied together the Inca empire.” They could have told us so much about the culinary history of these people! Sadly the conquistadors destroyed all except 600 because in the eyes of the Church a cor quipu

was an instrument of Satan. They differed from their Mayan and the Aztec cousins in many ways. The Aztecs didn’t domesticate large animals whereas the Inca loved the Llama and the Alpaca and ate the vicuna, guanaco, a variety of wild deer and the plentiful domesticated guinea pigs. They didn’t eat chocolate, whereas the Aztecs invented the stuff. Maize was a basic staple but most importantly and most revered was the quinua (quinoa). Naturally, potatoes were popular more specifically due to the fact that it is an underground growing plant and thus protected from a  mountain climate. More distastefully to our modern palates and only because we don’t know it, was their particular liking for caterpillars, beetles, ants and certain types of larvae.   As in all societies, the imperial family ate better than anyone else but maize featured in all forms and with great consistency. As mentioned before quinoa (quinua) was eaten as a vegetable and in soups, used as flour and most successfully with a large variety of vegetables and beans.  Potatoes were dried out in the sun and the frost alternatively and then ground into a gruel that al Incans seemed to have loved. Yuca and oca were treated in a similar fashion. Fruit was, naturally, part of the Imperial diet and unlike their subjects, meat was regularly found on the menu. Young llama and vicuna liberally spiced with aji (a type of chile, image above) and mani, wild duck, partridges and mushrooms, snails, frogs and other exotic foodstuffs from all parts of the Empire was delivered to they royal family daily by runners! To lubricate and quench thier thirst, they drank chicha exuberantly as did their subjects. They ate twice daily, the first meal just after sunrise and the last just before sunset. Below an image of a (rather theatrical) painting by Millais of Pizarro seizing the Incan King.

Notice the fruit baskets and bread that had fallen on the floor. For the common families, food was cooked in earthernware pots and put on round openings cut out on top of simple stoves fueled with wood. Families squatted on the ground and ate with their hands. A meal usually consisted of roasted corn, quinoa or potatoes and a soup or stew of some kind that contained both beans and chiles. Occasionally small birds, frogs and edible worms were added to enhance the protein content of the meal. Around lake Titicaca fish was obviously plentiful but in the more mountainous areas they had to make do with roasted guinea pig, which was plentiful. Occasionally in areas like the Huanca province in times of need, dogs were eaten too but nowhere else. Whilst peasants kept few llamas the meat would only be eaten when the animal was no longer of use, whereas the royal family ate it often.  Llamas were beasts of burden, a source of wool and to a peasant, a waste dead. When eaten the meat was sliced into thin strips, dried and then pounded really hard between two stones to tenderize the rather tough meat. This kind of meat was known as charqui and it was only after eating the meat that a peasant would start drinking chicha, a cloudy beer that was intoxicating. Chicha was made from quinoa, oca and many other plants.

INCA FESTIVAL BREAD

Ingredients

• 625 ml ground, white corn meal
• 200 ml coarsely chopped hot chilies (don’t pack tightly)
• 240 g tin creamy sweet corn (you could puree it if you prefer a smooth cornbread)
• 300 g strong cheddar cheese, cut into cubes with about 125 ml grated
• 120 ml sweet peppers roasted, skin removed and cut into strips
• 350 ml milk
• 2 extra large eggs
• 8 tbsp butter
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 250 C
• Melt 6 tbsp butter over low heat without browning.
• Put the other 2 tbsp butter into a  baking dish and heat for a few minutes without browning and coat the whole inside of the dish well.
• Set asid.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs and the milk and mix in, smoothly, 1 cup of the white cornmeal, the melted butter, the sweetcorn, the cubed cheese, the chilies, chopped red sweet peppers, the bicarbonate of soda and mix into a soft dough with an almost pouring consistency.
• Should the dough be too soft add a tablespoon or so of cornmeal and mix well.
• Rotate the butter in the baking dish well and pour in the butter, smoothing it with the back of a spoon until it is level.
• Sprinkle over the rest of the grated cheese and place the roasted sweet pepper over the top.
• Bake for 40 – 50 minutes until a knife comes out cleanly.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Vegetation was sparse since it didn’t rain on the Pacific coast of Peru at that time, but to make up for this, nature provided  plenty of fish, mammals and birds in the ocean. As one went inland towards the foothills of the Andes, the green began and the mist that blew in from the sea gave life – snails were plentiful and as the great mountains rose and one ascended to the stronghold of the Incas, the llama and the alpaca thrived. (These animals have, probably, been domesticated since 4550 – 3100 BC.  Salt preservation was no problem, thanks to the salt springs in the highlands and to the salt collected in and around the oceans. The Incas had been planting potatoes since 3700 to 3000 BC and they had planted vegetables – in fact so many vegetables that listing would take up too much time for so short an article. What is interesting to note, is the fact that they eat sweet, sour and bitter with great enthusiasm and little restraint. The Inca loved sea weed and the pink pepper from the pink peppercorn trees that grow as naturally here as do passion fruit and almonds.

Famed amongst the Inca of old was a King called Yupanquis who founded a system of warehouses and established a redistribution food network across the Inca empire. He called all the chiefs of all the lands together and instructed them to build granaries near the city of Cuzco. It took them five years to do so but they managed and eventually maize, quinoa, dried meat, chile, beans, tarwi and amusingly, chicas was stored there in order that the Inca nation never go hungry. They never did. They farmed communally – each utilizing the land most suited to the particular product and made sure that those granaries were kept full to brimming, secure in the knowledge that they wouldn’t go hungry. For those living in the city of Cuzco, food was provided from the granaries every four days in amounts considered necessary for their use. (Frankly, I would hate it if someone told me what I was going to have to eat.) However, the man seemed to have prevented any would be Inca retailer from abusing the poor –   so that the Incas to concentrate on other, more important things – like art, science, technology and most importantly agriculture. Sadly the Spanish ended it for them.