| Main knowledge bank page |
Recent additions |
Recent changes |
What links here |
Categories |
Category cloud How-to guides | Organisation profiles | Project profiles | ||||||||||
Cooking Practices in High Sierra, Peru by Simon Burne
Women do all the food preparation and they cook twice a day, in the morning and evening. They only eat at lunch time when there are large gatherings, most often at harvest time. They cook in separate building where the family also sleep. The stove used universally is of quite complex construction. It is built of stones planted typically in the ground with more stones forming (...)es over them. The number of stones depends on the number of pot-holes required. Adobe is then applied over the structure. The firebox stretches under all the pot-holes which usually number two or three, depending on the size of the family. The stove does not end there, however. On one side, a large adobe tray is constructed to hold enough dung to cook one meal. On the other side, depending on the imagination of the stove builder - the woman herself - various shelves and recesses are built in the adobe to house pots and other items. Much like three stone fires, these stoves do not. have a perceived "life". When pushed, most women said that the stove was between 10 and 20 years old. What is clear is that a great deal of care is taken in maintaining the stove with women repairing cracks and smoothing surfaces every two to three weeks. The foods cooked are basically variations on soup with small amounts of grain and meat being boiled and then eaten with boiled potatoes or chuno which is a bitter potato which has been "freeze-dried" through the combination of frosty nights and sunny days. Cooking takes about an hour. Most pots used are clay pots which are produced with lids which are always used. Some aluminium pots are also used, but most people expressed a preference for clay pots because they are cheaper and the food tastes better. The fuel used is cow-dung, there being no viable alternative. To start the fire, a "box" of cow-dung is constructed near the entrance to the stove and lit using straw. This enables maximum air circulation. Once the fire is really going, more cow dung is thrown in. Sheep-dung is then used to spread the fire into the farthest corners of the stove as it is easier to throw than cow-dung. Cow-dung is collected by women and children as part of their dally chores both in the stone-fenced corrales where the animals are kept at night and in the camps where the animals graze. Obviously, the more wealthy the peasant (i.e. the more cattle they own), the more their needs can be met from their corral. There is no doubt that large amounts of dung are used. Special houses are built to store dried dung and while in weight terms only 2-4 kgs may be used per meal, in volume terms that is a very large basket. Furthermore, it also means that women have to tend/the fire. constantly, breathing in a thick acrid smoke. Sleeping, in that atmosphere as; well; (the whole family sleeps in the cookhouse) helps to account for pulmonary infections being the most important medical complaint, making up 50% of total reported diseases. Save the Children Fund is supporting a local NGO working in the area called Kausay (the Quechua for "life"). They are trying to re- introduce high protein grains to the area, which used to be commonly grown under the Incas. They hope to use cow-dung for fertiliser and thus perceive a potential constraint and a conflict between fuel and fertiliser. ITDG was thus asked to advise on whether an improved stove programme could be Introduced for the following reasons: (a) Shortage of fuel for domestic purposes. (b) Conflicts between dung for fuel and fertiliser. (c) Too much time being spent on collecting dung restricting other activities. (d) A desire for a cleaner kitchen environment. It became clear very rapidly, however, that none of these reasons was sufficient. No woman expressed any shortage of fuel, even though they take extreme care to waste no fuel, keeping the fire very low and always putting lids on pots. Similarly, no time- problem is perceived because dung is collected while tending the herds. It is not a separate, exclusive activity. More seriously, especially for the grains project, people do not perceive any potential for cow-dung as a fertiliser. In fact, they greeted my suggestion that it could be used with a good deal of laughter and not a little incredulity. For them, sheep dung is ideal for fertiliser, and they make special compost mounds of sheep dung for that purpose. No woman said that smoke was a serious problem. It is clear however that if any stove programme is ever to take off there, it is to the health issue that it must address itself. But what can be done, when people have no disposable income to play with, effectively putting chimneys beyond their pocket? Unless a serious preventative health programme is established in the area, there appears to be little room for improved stoves. Their stoves are already as improved as they can be within their means.
[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 14: Kitchens, Pots and Cooking Practices
| ||||||||||
Page created:
12 September 2008; Last edited:
12 September 2008; Version: 0 | ||||||||||
Pagename: BP14:CookingPracticesInHighSierraPeru @HEDON: CPNA | ||||||||||
