In our Peru, algae have been consumed for more than 6,000 years (María Rostowrowski indicates about 6,450 years in her book "Renewable natural resources and fishing, XVI and XVII centuries", 1981). For example, there is evidence of use in the Caral culture (2,500 to 3,000 years B.C.). The "Gigartina chamissoi", a red algae about 30 to 60 cm long that abounds along the Peruvian coast, is represented in Moche ceramics. Macrocystis pyrifera, one of the largest brown algae in the Pacific, is abundant on the south coast from Pisco and is represented in Nasca ceramics.
On the coast of the department of Arequipa mainly, fishermen dehydrated yuyo to supply the Incas of Cusco. One of these production centers was the La Huata coast, in the Hornillos National Reserve, where there are precisely stoves (which give the reserve its name) that were used for this purpose. There are a large number of varieties of fresh water and sea water, from those microscopic to those that can reach more than 50 meters. It is important to consider that some are perfectly edible while others can be toxic. If they are not used for human consumption, the algae or weeds that are left to accumulate and decompose on the beaches are perfectly usable, since they can be mixed with farmland to produce a first-class compost.
In general, in the case of the fresh ones, they are called "yuyo" and in the case of the dehydrated ones, "cochayuyo". There is also a semi-dry yoke shape. On the coast it is consumed mainly fresh in ceviches, jellies, salads, ajiacos, spicy, chilcanos, tortillas, "burst crabs" ... In the mountains it is consumed in its dehydrated form (dry-salted) in chupes, lawas, broths, thickened, ajiacos, solteritos, scrambled eggs, salads, spicy, charquicán (southern Peru), chiriuchu (Cusco), Timpusca of pears (Arequipa) ... and can be found in the markets pressed into square blocks.
Tribute to our millennial Cochayuyo, with our design "Cochayuyo Peruvian Lake Backpack"
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