' () is a type of flour made from ground toasted

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

or other toasted grains. It is used in Bolivian, Ecuadorian and

Peruvian cuisine Peruvian cuisine reflects local practices and ingredients including influences mainly from the indigenous population, including the Inca, and cuisines brought by immigrants from Europe (Spanish cuisine, Italian cuisine); Asia (Japanese cuisine an ...

History

Spanish colonists brought the technique of toasting grain to enhance its nutritional value, then grinding the toasted grain into flour, from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

to the Andean region. The Mesoamerican product, ', uses toasted corn, but in Ecuador the process was applied primarily to barley.

Production

Grain is toasted, then ground finely.

Uses

' is used in a variety of foods that are part of Andean cuisine. These include ', an herbal tea decoction made with

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

, lemon verbena or other herbs; another beverage called ' made by mixing the ' with hot or cold liquid; ', a nougat confection made using ' (unrefined cane sugar), eggs, ' and a variety of walnut called '; ', a variety of bread baked using ' in addition to untoasted flour; '—akin to but distinct from '—a beverage prepared in a manner similar to ' but which also includes ground ' and spices such as anise, cinnamon and cloves; ', any of a variety of savory soups or stews thickened with '; and ', a cake baked with '. Soups to which ' is added typically have a base of carrots, legumes, onions and potatoes, and may or may not contain meat. It is used to batter and season meat to be fried, such as

pork rind Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways. It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US) or scratchings (UK); these are served in small piece ...

s or shellfish including shrimp. ' is sometimes also added to hot chocolate or cold juice, and has been used to flavor ice cream. It is incorporated into stroopwafels (a cookie which originated in the Netherlands) made in Peru and filled with other Andean ingredients such as passion fruit and ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...

''. Some indigenous peoples use ' to prepare ', a traditional meat.

Nutritional value

One hundred grams of ' made from barley contains 344

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of o ...

s (kcal), 8.6 grams protein, 0.7 g fat, 77.4 grams carbohydrates, 6.6 g fiber, 74 mg calcium, 320 mg phosphorus, 12.3 mg iron, 0.12 mg vitamin B₁, 0.25 mg vitamin B₂, 8.7 mg niacin, and 1.9 mg vitamin C. For ''máchica'' made from wheat, 100 grams contains 347 calories, 7.9 g protein, 1.2 g fat, 79.9 g carbohydrates, 4.1 g fiber, 67 mg calcium, 0.9 mg iron, and 2.7 mg vitamin C.

Other varieties

In Peru, the product sold as ' is most often made of toasted corn flour. It is mixed with sugar and cinnamon in a manner similar to both Central American ' and Ecuadorian '. ' may also refer to flour made with ground toasted wheat, a variation also found in Peru, as well as in Bolivia where it is the most common type of '.

References