Street Food: Maca and Quinoa

Hello, my friends!

Today I stopped by one of these carts that are all over Lima. They make and sell traditional drinks and common sandwiches. I will talk about maca and Quinoa in this opportunity.

Quinoa and maca are Andean grains that are hundreds of years languishing in Peru and now in the world. The nutritional benefits are varied but perhaps the common denominator is the energy they provide. In fact, quinoa is used as the main food of astronauts in space missions and maca is essential for high-performance athletes in the world. For that reason, in the last years, local and international companies have created hundreds of products such as energy bars or nutritional gels based on these two grains. In the case of my experience today I ordered a glass of maca and a glass of quinoa and well, I’m in “beast mode” right now. These glasses are served hot and taken well early. Prices are very affordable, each glass costs 1 “sol” (Peruvian currency). If we talk about international currency would be 30 cents/dollar per glass. It makes a lot of sense since Peru is the leading global producer and exporter of both Maca and Quinoa.

So you know guys, if you visit Lima do not be afraid and try street food, but always make sure that these carts have certificates from the municipality of that district and that they take all the hygienic measures. We always have to look for a good relationship between price/quality. By the way, one thing I did not like was that they use plastic cups. Their answer, sadly, is what we have heard many times: It´s cheaper. I encourage them to switch to the glass so we will see what happens. I think it´s a long road but we have to start.

Have a great day!
Best wishes,
Marco … from PERU!

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Hey @marcorp ,

Thank you for the detailed post. Quinoa is one of my favourite super foods. I love to search for new ideas and recipes that include it. A couple of years ago, I used to eat a quinoa salad almost every day. Come to think of it, I should make one soon. I like to put tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers and some kind of cheese in the salad. Here’s a photo:

By the way, do you know any good dessert recipes with quinoa? I once made vegan cookies. :slightly_smiling_face:

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@marcorp Sure, if I visit Lima, I will try it. Is it sweet? Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

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@MoniDi hi there! I am glad to hear that you are a quinoa fan…! that´s very healthy… I have in mind many desserts based on quinoa but I don´t remembr all the ingredients quite well however I found this that might help you (using subtitles I gues :slightly_smiling_face: Desserts based on Quinoa

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@Ant_Bad_Yogi hello there! It´s kind of sweet yes but not so much… you can skip sugar if you like, that´s another way to drink it :slightly_smiling_face:

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@marcorp I see. Thank you for your prompt reply.

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@Ant_Bad_Yogi always my pleasure!

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Thanks @marcorp !

I will check them. This gives me another reason to watch Youtube videos all day. :slightly_smiling_face:

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