COCA
As tea or simply by chewing the leaves, Coca is used mostly to avoid the the bad effects of altitude such as headache or dizziness. And yes, its the same leaves, Cocaine is made of. However, of course, the concentration in the tea is about 80% lower.
Mate de Coca (Coca Tea) was offered in most of the hostals, hotels, B&B in which we stayed...and it tastes really good! The chewing on the leaves version however is a bit "special". Its a kind of weired feeling to have the leaves all the time in your mouth chewing them...once you smile, the leaves are all over your teeth :-). But we met many locals, for who this is a daily ongoing activity :-).
Meanwhile, there are also Coca bonbons for a change.
For Europeans however, it appears to be a strange thing to get Coca Products everywhere. At St Pedro de Atacama we observed an older French couple, who secretly whispered to the shop assistant, if he has some Coca bonbons. They where pretty embarrassed as he responded loudly that he doesn`t have them here but they can be found around the corner...funny moment :-).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_tea
Rica Rica
Also good to get rid of the bad impact of the altitude, this herb can be found on the Altiplanica, meaning at around 3500-4000m above sea level.Its just a matter of finding the plant, as it only gets to about 40cm high at the max. But we found it :-)...
Locals are using it as cure for stomach ache, to clean up the kidneys and for heart issues. The taste is quite fresh, sweet and remembers one to the smell of wood. All in all very tasty. And the entire taste comes from only a little branch of the plant.
Chachacoma
Growing in the same altitude than Rica Rica, this third plant is as well used to remain fit in high altitudes.
To describe the taste is quite difficult; must be something between...well, its really hard to say. Lets just say it tastes delicious and I would drink also for the 4 o`clock tea together with some cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment