200 Varieties of Potatoes

Chef Patricio has it written on the board: "Greatest gift to the world from the Incas: Potatoes."

And purple food. We learned that the purple corn kernels were used as currency: "You would trade your gold for purple corn kernels." Kind of funny to think that when we eat blue chips, it's sort of like eating money.

And quinoa. Now there's a story. Quinoa (a seed, not a grain) was highly prized by the Incas, who instinctively understood its nutritional value: it has all the essential amino acids, it's a complete protein ("the vegan's dream food"). But the Incas, who considered their foodstuffs sacred, used quinoa in ceremonial rituals that the Spaniards deemed paganistic, so its production was "actively suppressed," according to Wikipedia. Chef said that all the quinoa fields were burned, and anyone caught growing it had their arms cut off. "Brutal, huh?"

But it's making a culinary comeback, if not a religious one, and I cooked it today, in a pot of boiling water, with some lemon zest and nutmeg. It takes about 20 minutes to cook, until the little "tail" unfurls from the husk. It's sort of a neutral ingredient, like couscous, and today, we gave it the Peruvian treatment: roasted corn kernels, pickled red onions, roasted and minced jalapenos, black beans, diced tomatoes, chopped scallions and cilantro; all dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Tim, try this at home.


We also had a garlic chicken dish, and a wonderful ceviche made by Sarah and Silvia:

Chef gave an ongoing demonstration on the preparation of causa, a cold potato appetizer that he said is "a great moneymaker". He made two mashed potato preparation, with yukon golds and purple potatoes, using olive oil instead of butter, and adding lots of chopped jalapenos and lemon juice. Then he made a shrimp salad (but you can use any number of fillings). The potatoes are formed into a flat layer in a sheet pan and chilled. Then you cut them and layer them and make them beautiful, as he demonstrated:



We each took a turn at plating. I think this part of the class is going to be really beneficial to me. My plates tend to look like the school cafeteria lady plopped down the ingredients. Anyhow, this is Andrea's plate:


And this is mine.


Would you pay $8 for that?