Size, color, and freshness: Standards and heritage of native potatoes in Peru

Abstract

Peru is the center of origin and diversity of more than 3,000 varieties of native potatoes although only a few varieties are typically consumed beyond the Andean region. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic research, I explore the role of standards of size, quality, and colors as well as documents like invoices in formalizing and mobilizing the potatoes in the market. I argue that these standards and documents together with economic sociability serve as an important strategy to add value to native potatoes from their production in Ayacucho to their distribution in Lima. By keeping the ethnographic eye on the construction and negotiation of those standards, I show the fragility, the risks, the opportunities, and the power relationships that emerge along the native potato chain.

Keywords:

• Economic sociability
• food heritage
• native potato
• Peru
• standards
• supply chain

Acknowledgements

This article is based on my PhD research at The University of Manchester and on a presentation at the SOAS Food Seminar. A version of it was also presented at the AAA Annual Meeting in 2021. I am very thankful to Edilberto, Professor Penelope Harvey, Professor Andrew Irving, Dra. Angela Torresan, Dr. Jakob Klein, Dra. Elizabeth Hull, Dra. Judith Tsouvalis, Dra. Letizia Bonanno, Professor Carole Counihan, and the three anonymous reviewers for their comments at different stages. The PhD research was funded by CONACyT-Mexico.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Ocas, ollucos, and mashuas are other Andean tubers that farmers grow - they are part of the rotational system to grow native potatoes. Slowly, chefs are also getting interested in those too.

2 Although the submission to UNESCO was rejected (Matta 2016b), it shows the government’s active efforts to make food an object of heritage.

3 The rhetoric of inclusion in Peru has given rise to different political projects of national and international integration through education (García 2004), roadbuilding (Orlove 1993; Harvey and Knox 2015), and, recently, gastronomy (Lauer 2012; García 2013).

4 French Haute Cuisine includes “elaborate presentations, exotic spices, and rare ingredients” (Sammells 2014, 145). As a driver of the Gastronomic Boom, the Novo-Andean Cuisine has an “inclusionary rhetoric” (García 2013, 515) that translates into including ingredients and the people who produce them.

5 The tasting menu is inspired by the Nouvelle Cuisine and it is crafted by increasing the number of dishes in a small and very carefully presented portions (Moral 2020).

6 In 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture of Peru declared “El día del pollo a la brasa” (The Day of the Roasted Chicken) to be celebrated every third Sunday of July. (“Resolución Ministerial No.0441-2010-AG” 2010). Roasted chicken is a popular and affordable meal available in many different places.

7 Mayer and Glave (1999) did not mention specific varieties.

8 A book published by the Peruvian government mentions the potato was originated about 7,000 years ago (Brack-Egg 2015). The book itself is entangled in the context of the government’s efforts to re-value Peruvian heritage production.

9 In Peru 60% of production was informal in 2008 (Loayza 2008).

10 Although Edilberto told me the potato sizes are different among varieties, the size of the firsts (primeras) is between 7 to 9 centimeters in length. The size of the seconds (segundas) is between 5 to 7 centimeters (Egúsica-Bayona 2014, 191).