January 19th- What's Cooking In Buena Vista

19/01/08
We went for a small hike this morning at 6am to look for the dancing manekins, but they were no where to be found! We did find lots more mosquitoes, though, or maybe I should say they found us! It was still a productive hike though because or guide Christian has so much traditional medicinal plants knowledge that it seems like we stop every couple of feet to discuss some tree that has a specific use in the home medicine cabinet of your average Amazonian villager. We spent the rest of our day in Buena Vista visiting more families and eating some popular local dishes prepared by Dorila and her mother Julia, with some help from Dorila’s daughter.

Villagers cook in the kitchen called a “tushpa”. Usually the kitchen is one of the only defined spaces in the home. The stove consists of a lumber structure filled with clay and sand on top. They use kindling to make fire and place their pots and cooking utensils over top. Often food is wrapped up in a heliconia or banana leaf to be cooked or smoked, this is called “Pacarashka”.