Chuño

=Chuño=

Chuño is a freeze dried potato. There are two different ways of making it. Black or white. Black chuño is made by dehydrating the potatoes of your choosing and then letting them freeze back over in the cold night air all the way up in the Andes Mountains. You repeat this process over and over again until the potatoes are completely free of any liquids. White chuño is made exactly opposite from black chuño. To make the white chuño, you sun dry them and then rewet them several times. You make both of them by putting them in a liquid material to expand them. They are mainly used in soups and stews.

Chuño was first discovered over eight centuries ago. Many early Andes civilizations used this method to store food. They have an extremely long shelf life so they were good for storage in the winter. Chuño is such an important food in the history of Peru. Without it, many civilizations wouldn't have survived through all the tough winters and dry summers.

By: Brianne Phillips