Native potatoes of Cusco: varieties, chuño and dishes to try

If one food defines the Andes, it's the potato. It was domesticated thousands of years ago in the Lake Titicaca region and from there conquered the world. Peru grows thousands of varieties, many of them only in high Andean communities in regions like Cusco. Walking through a Cusco market and seeing mountains of potatoes in every colour, shape and size is a lesson in history and biodiversity. This guide explains which potatoes you'll see, how they've been preserved since Inca times and which dishes to try.

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The cradle of the potato

The first Andean farmers domesticated the wild potato some 7,000 to 8,000 years ago. The Incas developed advanced techniques to grow it at different altitudes, such as terraces, and to store it for years. After the Spanish arrived, the potato travelled to Europe and became one of the world's most important foods. Peru celebrates National Potato Day every 30 May, and Lima is home to the International Potato Center, which conserves thousands of varieties.

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Varieties you'll see at the market

• Papa amarilla: floury and golden, perfect for mash and causa. A favourite of many Peruvian cooks.
• Papa huayro: reddish skin and yellow flesh, very tasty; ideal boiled with cheese and ají.
• Papa peruanita: small, two-tone yellow and red, with an intense flavour.
• White potato or canchán: the most common, for frying or stews.
• Coloured native potatoes: purple, black, pink or twisted shapes. Grown in high Andean communities, each has a Quechua name, sometimes very poetic.

Chuño and moraya: Inca freeze-dried potatoes

Long before industrial freeze-drying existed, Andean people dehydrated potatoes using the high-altitude climate. Potatoes are left outside to freeze at night, trampled to squeeze out the water and dried in the sun by day. The result is black chuño, which keeps for years. If they're also washed in running water, you get white moraya or tunta. In Cusco markets you'll see them in sacks: they look like small stones. They're used in soups and stews and have a very distinctive taste and texture.

Other Andean tubers

• Olluco: small yellow or pink tuber with a crunchy texture. Eaten in "olluquito con charqui", a stew with dried meat.
• Oca: elongated and colourful, slightly sweet, especially after a few days in the sun.
• Mashua or isaño: slightly peppery, used in traditional medicine and stews.
• Maca: more typical of the central highlands, sold as an energy powder.

Potato dishes you must try

• Papa a la huancaína: boiled potato with a creamy sauce of fresh cheese and ají amarillo.
• Ocopa: potato with a sauce of huacatay, peanuts and chilli, typical of Arequipa but common in Cusco.
• Causa: yellow potato mash with chilli and lime, filled with chicken, tuna or vegetables.
• Huatia: potatoes cooked underground in an oven of hot clods of earth, a harvest-time tradition (May to July). If you're invited to a huatia in a community, don't hesitate.
• Chiri uchu: the Corpus Christi dish, with potato, guinea pig, hen, charqui, sausages and seaweed, eaten cold.
• Lawa: a thick soup with corn or chuño flour, perfect for the cold.

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The Potato Park near Pisac

Near Pisac, several Quechua communities manage the so-called Potato Park, a territory devoted to conserving hundreds of native varieties and traditional farming knowledge. Some communities offer community-based tourism visits, usually arranged in advance. It's a very different experience from a conventional tour.

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Buying and tasting

• San Pedro market, Wanchaq and Sacred Valley markets have the widest variety.
• Novoandina (new Andean) restaurants in Cusco present native potatoes in creative ways.
• To take home, fresh potatoes usually aren't allowed through customs, but packaged products like native potato chips or maca powder generally are, depending on your country's rules.

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Notice: This guide shares advice and recommendations based on research and local experience. Prices, opening hours and rules may change: always check with official sources and operators. Cusco Tips is not responsible for third-party services, bookings or decisions made using these guides; some links are affiliate links (see our affiliate policy).