The whole of July is when all cusqueños eat huatia. They have fun and enjoy the sunny days before this month ends.
During this month everyone has a strong desire to eat baked potatoes with uchukuta, hot sauce. The potatoes are prepared in a oven in the earth. Lots of families take a day of the week to go out from the city and make a special huatia.
The huatia is actually a great dish but it is more than that. It is is a party, festive that joins people together. Everyone shares, has fun, and has a moment to be with our realitives, parents, or with friends. We are also sharing with the Pachamama.
As older people say if you want to make a huatia, any day in july is perfect. You just buy good potatoes, make an oven, find firewood in the forest, fire up the oven and when it is ready put the potatoes in. You wait twenty minutes and you will have huatia ready to enjoy.
Yesterday some friends and I had a huatia day. It was very sunny. We bought potatoes from Rosaspata market. There, our caseras helped us to buy the good ones for the huatia. We also bought uchukuta and cheese. Then we decided to go to Sacsayhuaman. We took a bus to get there. This places is perfect for making a huatia beacause there are fields. It is the place to be.
We made the huatia oven really quickly. Then we put in the potatoes when the oven was ready. After this we covered the oven with more dirt. We just waited for twenty minutes while we were looking at farmers harvesting quinoa. It was amazing. When it was time, we started to scrape back the dirt carefully until we found the first potato to try and see if it was ready.
The potatoes looked great, delicious, crispy, and cooked. We got all the potatoes but we missed one. My friend told us that one was for the Pachamama, so we said “nice”. We had a great lunch, the best dish of July.
I want to say the huatia we prepared was really delicious, because it was made with love and respect. We shared a good day. The mother earth gives you food and you should give food back, sharing with it.
Do not miss this month. It is goof to go with your friends, family or whoever you want and make a huatia. You will enjoy a good meal and a good time with nature.
