All about the ancient tribes
Maize, coca, beans, grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, ulluco, oca, mashwa, pepper, tomatoes, peanuts, cashews, squash, cucumber, quinoa, gourd, cotton, talwi, carob, chirimoya, lcuma, guayabo, and avocado were among the crops that were farmed across the Inca Empire. The majority of the livestock consisted of herds of llamas and alpacas.
The potatoes were let to dry out and were then made into chuo shape.
They built steps of land into the slope to use for farming, and they cultivated on these steps. Potatoes, quinoa (which is a type of grain), and maize (which is sometimes known as corn) were three of the most essential items in their diet.
CROPS OF THE INCA Quinoa, potatoes, and corn were the Inca people’s primary food sources, but they also employed a wide variety of other plants for medical purposes.
Up to an altitude of 3200 meters, generally, and 3500 meters in ideal areas, maize was the primary crop that was produced. Cotton was an important crop in the region close to the Pacific Ocean and could be produced at heights of up to approximately 1,500 meters.
A wide variety of tubers, roots, and cereals were used as the primary sources of nutrition. There was a high regard for maize, despite the fact that it could not be cultivated to the same extent as it was further north. Guinea pigs and llamas were the most prevalent sources of meat, and dried fish was a significant food source as well.
They considered the Incas to be archaic, and because of this, they coerced the indigenous people of the Andes to switch from the crops that they had relied on for thousands of years to European varieties such as wheat, barley, and carrots.
The Incas’ diet was mostly composed of root vegetables, all of which are indigenous to the Andean region. Root vegetables were considered to be the most significant staple food. The domestication of many root crops such as the potato, oca, sweet potato, and manioc occurred around 8,000 years ago, according to the findings of archeological research.
In spite of its name, the potato is really a tuber that was first cultivated in this part of the world. This nutrient-dense Andean plant would have been cultivated by the Inca in one of the many terraced gardens that are located close to the sites of most Inca settlements today. Potatoes were a common ingredient in Inca cuisine, appearing in dishes such as stews and soups.
Llama. The indigenous people of Peru relied heavily on llama meat as a source of nourishment because of the animal’s relatively large size. It was common practice to use llama flesh in the preparation of charqui, a meat snack that was analogous to the jerky that is eaten today. In the pre-Hispanic meal known as olluquitos de carne, charqui had an important role as an ingredient.
Although it is a member of the amaranth family and is therefore more closely related to spinach or turnips, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), which originates in South America, is sometimes referred to as the rice of the Incas. This is despite the fact that quinoa is a member of the amaranth family.
The Spanish invaders looked down on quinoa when it was first introduced. Because of its usage in rituals that the Spaniards considered to be ″pagan,″ its cultivation was prohibited at one time, and the Incas were ordered to plant wheat in its place.
The Inca Empire was founded on a foundation of grain and dung. According to a recent study, the seeds of the Inca Empire were planted approximately 2,700 years ago in the highlands of the South American Andes when a warm spell combined with piles of llama excrement allowed maize agriculture to take root at that altitude. This event ultimately led to the rise of the Inca Empire.
The Incans prepared almidón de papa by boiling, mashing, roasting, fermenting it in water to make a sticky substance called toqosh, and grinding it to a pulp before soaking it (potato starch). Soon after their introduction, potatoes from Peru were an essential part of the Incan diet, helping to keep both huge cities and Incan troops alive.
Potatoes were an important crop for the Incas, who not only consumed them regularly but also believed they made childbirth easier and used them medicinally. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru in 1532 in pursuit of gold, they observed Inca miners eating chuuu, which is the Inca word for potato. This was their first interaction with the potato.