A Recipe for Cuzco’s Traditional Carnival Puchero (Thimpu)
A Mountain of Food, Cuzco’s Thimpu or Puchero
Courtesy of Doña Mercedes Morveli Transcribed by Walter Coraza Morveli and translated by David Knowlton)
During Cuzco’s Carnival it often rains and people have fun spraying foam and tossing buckets of water at each other. They also dance around a tree laden with gifts while chopping it down. This is a time rich with symbolism called in Quechua puqllay, or play. The tensions and oppositions of the world and society come into play and are resolved during this time while potatoes and tubers grow beneath the earth. People also eat this traditional boiled dinner shaped like a mountain, covered in green. Inside it one finds the potatoes and tubers, as well as meat, people hope to have once harvest comes. It is a wonderful metaphor for this rich time of play and abundance. Read the rest of this entry
