Potatoes and Their Many Personalities: Peruvian Potatoes Throughout Lima

Lily H
12 hours ago
5 min read

Updated: 5 hours ago

I peer up at walls lined with shelves of pre-Columbian pottery resembling ducks and llamas and humans. Many vessels feature the cold faces of gods or intricate patterns. Some take the form of corn husks or lumpy potatoes. And with faces of their own, even the foods stare back. I turn a corner to find myself face-to-face with the most unhappy-looking potatoes I’ve ever seen. On a shelf before me, a pot features three potatoes who show their jagged teeth in a haunting frown. After soaking in their expression, I keep walking down the aisle and am met with more menacing potatoes who bare their teeth at me. Like me, these potatoes looked hangry and ready for dinner. Or maybe their scowls were directed at me because they knew potatoes would make up a major part of my dinner.

(Frowning potatoes – 05/06/26)

(Scowling potatoes - 05/06/26)

The potatoes’ frowns and scowls may signify something much deeper than disapproval of my dinner plate. Housed in the Lacro museum of pre-Columbian art, these figures come from the ancient Andean Moche civilization (100-800 A.D.). To the Moche, the potato was sacred and lived within the Uku Pacha. In this mysterious Andean underworld, the seeds and the dead lay together, fueling the cycling of essential nutrients and rebirth in the hidden earth below.¹ In this belief system, plants and human (and other animal) lives were deeply intertwined.

To the Moche, the potato was a sentient being linked to its very own potato goddess Axomamma (known as the “Potato Mother”),¹ responsible for soil fertility and bountiful potato harvests and the daughter of the Earth goddess Pachamama.² By depicting potatoes with their own unique expressions, the Moche acknowledged the crop's soul and their relationship of codependence.³

Man, a lot to digest, right? (literally, keep reading to uncover how the potato can cure digestive troubles :) ). Each day, I dig up more about the profound importance of the potato in culture and life here. My name is Lily, and I’m here in Peru to study the role of the Peruvian potato in cultural identity and food security. My goal is to uncover how these traditional crops can guide us towards sustainable agriculture.

The potato was domesticated in Peru between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago and became so ingrained in lifeways that its significance isn’t just seen in ancient pottery but in some Peruvian populations’ genetic makeup, where groups that historically had potato-centric diets carry some of the highest numbers of the AMY1 gene involved in starch digestion today.^4,5 Researchers from UCLA and the University at Buffalo found that these genetic shifts coincided with the timeframe of potato domestication, suggesting an evolutionary adaptation that caught on to optimize starch digestion and maximize potato-heavy diets.^4,5 Today, roughly 3,000 varieties continue to be cultivated up in the Andes,⁶ but the potato’s role extends beyond its growing place from the highlands to the coast.

I spent my first few days in the capital city of Lima, which is right on the Pacific coast. Lima is the second driest city in the world due to a phenomenon called the rainshadow effect, where the steep Andes Mountains further inland form a shadow that casts over Lima and shields it from winds that bring moisture.⁷ My friend and guide, Wilmer, told me it rains a maximum of three times a year. So the land here is arid and not suitable for agriculture without HEAVY irrigation. Yet, native Peruvian potatoes grown in the Andes find their way to the city, by way of market and supermarket.

(Mercado Surquillo - 05/04/26)

Wilmer used to sell potatoes, and he told me that vendors wake up at 2:00 AM to buy potatoes in bulk delivered from the Andes to then sell at the market during the daytime. We visited Mercado Surquillo (Surquillo market), one of the most well-known markets in Lima, to scout out some fresh, vibrant tubers. We found la papa negra (the black potato), la papa coctel (the cocktail potato), la papa Peruanita (the Peruvian potato, named aptly for its bi-colored pattern that resembles the Peruvian flag), la papa blanca (the white potato), and a variety of camote (sweet potato). Check out my photo album for more details about each of these potatoes!

(Las papas en Mercado Surquillo - 05/04/26)

In restaurants around town, traditional and absolutely delicious (rico) potato dishes are mainstream. Wilmer and I stopped at a restaurant next to the market and ordered causa limeña, made with the smooth and malleable papa amarilla (yellow potato), which resembles something of a potato tower with its layers stacked high: a potato base, mayo+chicken and avocado levels, a potato ceiling, and garnishing to top it off. I spent an afternoon cooking my own causa limeña in a cooking class, and though it was quite delectable and flavorful, mine wasn’t as aesthetic. Papa a la huancaína is also an ingenious and rich way to serve the potato. This traditional appetizer dish features boiled and sliced potatoes in a creamy, cheese-based sauce.

(Mi causa limeña y la causa limeña del restaurante - 05/10/26)

(Papa a la huancaína - 05/11/26)

But the potato’s value goes beyond its taste and nutrition; in its fermented form, it's medicinal too. Known as the "penicillin of the Andes," the tocosh, a fermented form/variety of the potato, has been used since Incan times for healing purposes.⁸ It’s said to help alleviate gastritis, ulcers, and respiratory issues.⁸ And, it increases gut bacteria and improves digestion.⁸ I bought some powdered tocosh from a market to try out, and I can attest that it works digestive wonders, and it smells and tastes exactly how you’d imagine a partially composted potato would. I’ll be replacing kombucha with tocosh in my diet, but next time, I think I’ll add some sugar and honey to the mix.

Apart from ingestion, the potato plays a role in social practice. If you thought Moche pottery was intimidating, consider the Llumchuy waqachi potato. Translated to 'the one that makes the daughter-in-law cry,' this knotty and uneven tuber is the ultimate marriage test in traditional rural Andean communities. In many Quechua communities, a bride must prove her worth by peeling this amorphous potato, sometimes with a llama bone, without removing too much potato flesh.⁹ This potato is named for its ability to make brides cry in frustration.

(Papa Llumchuy waqachi, image from https://www.cultivariable.com/, 05/11/26)

This past week, I’ve taken a spin through museums, markets, and local kitchens to trace the potato’s significance in Peruvian belief systems, culture, and food security. But now it’s time to return to the source. Next week, I’m so stoked to get my hands in the soil alongside growers for the harvest! I hope they don't bite. 🤞

Peace out,

Lily :)

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