Bolivian tradition preserves potato delicacy

People in Bolivia are still using traditional methods to preserve potatoes known locally as "chuno."The ancient Andean peoples who began cultivating potatoes 5,000 years ago invented a technique to make it last for years and thus ensure food security.

The chuño is an unknown potato version, but it is very popular in Bolivian gastronomy. When winter arrives in the southern hemisphere, the Andean Indigenous take the potatoes to the snowy foothills, let them freeze on the bare earth during the freezing nights and dehydrate them during the day when the sun is intense.

After this five-day process, the potato is transformed into a small, dry and dark product called "Chuño". To squeeze out the water and dehydrate the tuber, the natives use their bare feet to trample the frozen potato.

"A dish without Chuño is not food, without Chuño it is not tasty. It does not fit well," said a local resident. The Incas invented the process to survive the scarcity in the arid Bolivian altiplano. Still today Chuño is prepared which, according to experts, can last up to 20 years with these ancestral techniques.