"peruvian" news and stories

Meat market in Lima, Peru. From Flickr user ravakhan2.

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously-- Midnight Sausage: Saugus, MA

Although it's a few years old, a Christian Science Monitor story about Peru's diverse yet dwindling variety of tubers is still fascinating. In a scenario not uncommon to "heirloom" produce, the thousands of varieties of potatoes developed by Andean farmers over the last 8,000 years are falling out of favor due to newer varieties that are cheaper and easier to grow. The CSM cites a few varieties whose names translate to things like "flat like a cow's tongue," "like a woman with the colors of a condor's neck," and "makes the daughter-in-law weep." The latter apparently refers to a very bumpy potato used to test a prospective wife's peeling skills. The International Potato Center, based in Peru, is one of the main forces trying to conserve the region's tubers. Their Potato Park is one example. According to the CSM, the Center also maintains a gene bank with over 8,000 different potato specimens, half of which come from the Andes.