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Solar/Freeze-dried Andean Potato
I remember reading about freeze-drying of potatoes in the Peruvian Andes
in several articles. I saved one from the May 1982 National Geographic
magazine, "The Incredible Potato," by Robert E. Rhoades. Pages 674-5
show a Peruvian Indian farmer stomping on small potatoes to force out
the water and make dehydrated chuno, an ancient staple.
According to the caption text: "About 80 percent water, the potatoes lose
much of their moisture before the stomping by natural freeze-drying in
frosty nights and warm days. Soaked in water to dissolve bitterness, then
dried, chuno may keep as long as four years."
I remember more detailed articles on the subject, perhaps reprinted in a
book by Gene Logsden or Wendell Berry.
PetersFarm wrote:
--
By the way, in a book whose title and author escape me (maybe something by
Wendell Berry?) I read about the author's travels in Peru, in the mountainous
areas where the peasants grow wondrously diverse crops in tiny patches of
steep mountainside which they keep in place with rocks and nurture with
manure. There is a brief mention of watching from a distance as farmers
worked at "FREEZE-DRYING potatoes" - and also a description of the delectable
finished product. I can understand the drying but how did they do the
freezing part? Much too primitive an area for electricity.
--
Joel Grossman
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