Pisara de Quinua

The Bolivian Altiplano staple: quinoa toasted and then boiled until dry and granular, the salt-flat answer to fluffy rice

Origin: The Bolivian Altiplano (Oruro and Potosí)

From the journey of Quinoa.

Pisara (also phisara or pisaq'e) is the everyday quinoa of the Bolivian Altiplano, the high salt-flat country that grows the great Royal quinoa, Quinua Real. It is quinoa cooked dry and granular rather than into a soup or porridge: the rinsed grain is toasted to bring out its nuttiness, then boiled or steamed until each seed has uncurled and the whole is light, fluffy, and separate. In the Aymara and Quechua kitchens of the southern plateau it is the daily starch, the bed for a stew, a sauce, or a piece of meat or cheese, the salt-flat counterpart of the Peruvian quinua graneada. The dish belongs to the harsh, high country around Oruro, Potosí, and the Salar de Uyuni, where the big-grained Royal quinoa grows on ground too cold and salty for almost anything else, and where quinoa has been the staple for thousands of years. Pisara is the simplest, most fundamental way the Altiplano eats its quinoa day to day, plain and sustaining, the foundation on which the highland meal is built. Toasting the grain first, a step the high-plateau cooks rarely skip, gives the pisara its characteristic warm, nutty depth. Like all the quinoa dishes of the Andes, it begins with a thorough rinsing to wash off the bitter saponin coat; thereafter it is the plainest of preparations, and the truest taste of the everyday quinoa of the Bolivian salt-flat country.

Ingredients

  • 250 g quinoa (Royal quinoa if available), rinsed thoroughly under cold water
  • 500 ml water
  • 1 tbsp oil or a little fat
  • 0.5 tsp salt

Method

  1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in several changes of cold water, rubbing the grains, until the water runs clear and the bitter saponins are washed away. Drain well.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat, add the drained quinoa, and toast it, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes until it dries, smells nutty, and the grains begin to crackle.
  3. Add the water and salt, bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover.
  4. Cook, covered and undisturbed, for about 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains have uncurled their little tails.
  5. Turn off the heat and let it stand, covered, for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork so the grains separate, dry and light.

Notes

Pisara is the plain daily quinoa of the Bolivian highlands, served beside almost anything as rice would be elsewhere. Cook it in stock, or toss through softened onion and a little chilli, for more flavour. Royal quinoa (Quinua Real), with its large grains, makes the most prized pisara.

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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