Adventures has long believed that supporting indigenous communities, especially in parts of the world where tourists go, is as much a travel industry responsibility as protecting the planet.
And when it comes to food, preserving and protecting the culinary traditions that those communities pass down through generations is synonymous with supporting local agriculture and sustainable food sourcing methods.
For the past decade, G Adventures’ philanthropic arm, Planeterra, has partnered with indigenous communities on tourism projects in Peru’s Sacred Valley, in the region of Cuzco mostly known for its ancient Incan archaeological sites, including Machu Picchu.
It was here, some 13,000 feet or higher in the Andean Highlands, where I joined G on a 10-day culinary journey from Huchuy Qosqo to Cuyo Chico in the fertile farmlands of the Sacred Valley and was treated to a host of traditional meals.
The ingredients and the recipes used to craft these dishes were often incredibly simple. A staple in almost every dish I sampled was corn: Peru has more than 50 varieties, and they are very different than the corn typically found in the U.S. Some had much larger kernels than I’d ever seen, and it came in all shapes, sizes and colors, prepared in dynamic ways, from toasted into corn nuts to large, soft grains tossed with ceviche. They all tasted different, too. Some were drier but heartier, and a little went a long way, a good source of sustenance for a people living in the harsh climate at high altitudes.
But the variety of corn was nothing compared to the staggering number of potato varietals in Peru: There are 4,000 types grown across the country, around 1,300 just in the area surrounding Parque de la Papa, a Planeterra community tourism project.
Parque de la Papa is made up of 7,000 members who work to preserve the region’s potato varieties and pass down ancient agricultural teachings.
Throughout my trip, I sampled a number of potato dishes, but my favorite use of the vegetable was probably the potato-based spirit that Parque members used to create for us their own version of a pisco sour, Peru’s national drink. Call it a “papa sour.”
Our visit to the Parwa Community Restaurant helped bring my Peruvian culinary journey into focus, with all the pieces from this gastronomic experience coming together.
Several Planeterra projects around Peru, including Parque de la Papa, the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-Op and Tinkuy Community Tourism, converged at Parwa’s restaurant and event space to provide travelers on G Adventures tours with meals; educational and cultural programs; and a marketplace with wares and crafts made by members.
We enjoyed dishes made with corn grown on the property, potatoes picked from the Parque and quinoa stir-fried by chefs from the co-op along with refreshing drinks like chicha morada, a sweet, nonalcoholic beverage made from purple corn that made me nostalgic for a spiced West Indian beverage from my childhood.
Seeing this network in action left me more satisfied than any other meal during my trip. The locals own, run and manage these projects; community members are the chefs. G Adventures said this was always the intention: to provide the initial financial support and infrastructure for these projects, then turn the keys over to locals while continuing to offer sideline support and attract tourists.
Bruce Poon Tip, chairman and founder of G Adventures, said that for too long, tourism in the Sacred Valley was a “one-way experience” focusing on the customer’s needs while overlooking those of the communities that thousands of travelers passed through each year.
G’s efforts have helped empower the communities of the Sacred Valley to build an economic infrastructure that ensures Peruvians here will have an active role in a tourism industry that will continue to grow, along with their potatoes, corn and quinoa, for years to come.
