Food Origins #5: 356 days of Pachamama
From the mountains to the city, following this Andean tradition and its different expressions through time and space.
The Salinas Grandes of Jujuy are an extensive desert, miles, and miles of silence and white salt, at 3450 meters above sea level (very high if you’re wondering). On my way there, I drove around the province of Jujuy, Argentina, between plateaus and valleys, and a headache caused by the altitude, despite chewing coca, I was greeted with dramatic colors and rock formations: raw, vast, brutal.
Against all odds of the intimidating landscape, the northwest of Argentina has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years by various native peoples, the first hunter-gatherers who settled in that region. Those peoples co-inhabited the region with different levels of social, cultural, and economic exchange, and later on, in the 15th century, it became an important route for the Inca Empire. This land has seen a lot of history.
Nowadays, many families in the province of Jujuy live on their own agricultural production and commercialization. They use different production systems for the distinct altitudes: ranching is done typically in the mountains, and agriculture in the valleys, from where a large variety of produce comes.
For thousands of years, the native peoples of the region have cultivated crops that resist the geographical conditions - potatoes, maize, and quinoa. They used advanced methods - cultivation terraces for different altitudes, and storage systems to preserve food - part of the ancient knowledge that was passed from generation to generation. Today, this is reflected in what became the foundation of the Andean-native cuisine, with those ingredients present in so many traditional dishes: tamales, potato stews, and so on.
While visiting the salt desert I met Wally and his father Leonel Lamas, two kolla men from the Aboriginal Community of Águas Blancas, located a few miles from there. The Salinas are not only the place where they were born but also from where they make a living. They are part of a local cooperative that does salt extraction and in the last year they joined a hospitality project called Pristine Camps, a glamping site located deep out on the Salinas. I started to understand the magnitude of their connection to the land when they told me about their tradition for Pachamama - the goddess of nature, of all the elements and things - mountains, earthquakes. Mother Earth.
During the month of August, every year, the kollas and other native peoples of the Andean region celebrate Pachamama. It’s a ritual of gratitude for everything the earth provided in the last year, agriculture, water, jobs. According to Wally, Pachamama likes all the same things we like, so on the first day of the month, they make an offering with things for her to enjoy: coca leaves, tobacco, alcohol, money, and food - in a symbolic act of giving back to the earth.
On the day of the celebration, their family prepares a traditional dish called tistincha - a stew made with large maize grains, potatoes, and dried animal heads (naturally, all parts of the animals are used). They smoke the space with coba, a native herb, say prayers of gratitude, and ask for good fortune or permission to use the land. Then they all gather to eat the tistincha, which is cooked over a fire for many hours. Leonel and his family do this ceremony out of respect because they recognize - they know - that everything good comes from nature. One of the things that amaze me, is that besides the celebrations that happen during the month of August, they honor Pachamama through acts, and thoughts, all year round.
I believe the bond to the land accompanies individuals throughout time, and takes different shapes and forms, as Pablo Inca showed me. Pablo is a chef, born in San Salvador de Jujuy, and has been living and cooking in Brazil for the past few years, the last one (exactly one year) marked by the opening of his restaurant Cora, located in the city center of Sao Paulo. A landscape as far as you can imagine from his hometown.
Pablo grew up watching his grandmother care for the garden and eating those vegetables that were organic by default - because that was the only way his family cultivated. Naturally, Pablo’s grandmother prepared Pachamama rituals every year - the cooking and the offerings - and she still does at 89 years old, with some help from her family. Maybe that proximity to the cycle of nature, from his childhood, became imprinted in Pablo - and he seems to carry that within, despite the physical distance from Jujuy.
Cora, the name of his restaurant, is a two-fold homage, for one, it’s the goddess of agriculture and harvest in Greek mythology. That's the realm Pablo navigates in his cooking philosophy: to honor the simplicity and beauty of nature, produce, and animals, according to the seasons.“What I do is a reflection of what I watched my grandmothers do growing up, and I try to do it in a sensitive way” - Pablo Inca said.
Pablo believes everything he does as a cook has an origin - a moment, or a memory - that sparks something. And I agree. You see it in his way of cooking, which speaks tons about showcasing nature in its best state, and remembering traditions while blending them with his “new” territory. I saw through Pablo’s memories in each dish during my last visit to Cora (in December 2021).
The roasted cauliflower with pumpkin puree and spices unveiled the simple flavors enhanced by fire. And the raw fish, with cashew and cilantro, showed me the amplitude of tropical flavors at their peak. And the braised tongue, ahh the braised tongue. It reminded me that all the parts of the animal have a delicious use - and unexpectedly took me back to my own childhood eating tongue.
Gracias Pachamama: a toast to keeping the memory alive.
My gratitude to Wally and Leonel Lamas, who, so kindly shared the traditions of the Aboriginal Community of Águas Blancas. You can support them by visiting Pristine Camps in Jujuy, Argentina.
A special thanks to Pablo Inca for being generous with his time and thoughts, as always, and congratulations on Cora’s one-year anniversary! You can visit and celebrate with them this week in São Paulo, Brasil.
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