Is Kañiwa the new Quinoa?
Tue, Jun 22, 2010
Author: Betsy Power (3 Articles)
Betsy Power is the co-founder and CEO of Culinary Collective, a specialty food importer that works with small-scale producers of all-natural cultural food from Spain and Latin America. A strong proponent of responsible business, in 2004 Betsy co-founded, with Paul Hawken, Highwater Research a socially responsible investing research organization in San Francisco. Betsy is trained as an architect with a focus on green design and community-based development, and has worked with communities in Eastern Washington, Mexico, and Ecuador. In 2008, she launched Rooted Foods, a seal of transparency for traditional foods that connects the consumer back to the producer and supports self-sufficient communities worldwide.
Gino wasn’t quite sure of what to make of me. I was definitely different than any other customer he had met. It’s not often that a foreign buyer shows up in the high altiplano city of Juliaca, Peru known for contraband. But even more unusual is a visit from a Gringa decked out in protective motorcycle gear and climbing off the back of a BMW 1200cc. It was Sunday, and Gino had interrupted his only free day to give me a tour of his company and to meet his community of producers. Since I was traveling by motorcycle (just a passenger) and on a fairly tight schedule, I greatly appreciated the effort. But as I’ve said, his first impression of me definitely threw him.
Gino founded El Altiplano in 1994, with non-profit support, as a way to organize and support the hard working farmers of his region. The company works with over 150 producers of quinoa and kañiwa, hearty heritage grains that have sustained the people of this rough terrain for centuries. Gino has cultivated a strong bond with all of him farmers over the years, and the services he offers have grown and changed in relationship to his farmers’ needs. The company supplies the farmers with seeds and seed selection training, organic certification, the use of farming equipment, training in sustainable agricultural methods, and low interest loans to purchase needed animals and resources.
The producers do not have much land, 7-10 hectares on average, and have historically had much difficulty sustaining themselves. Gino offers them a secure market at higher than market prices along with the training, support, and resources they need to get ahead. Wilfredo Payhuanca Crúz, for example, is a young man who works the land with his brother and parents. With the help of El Altiplano, he was able to leave his dead-end job as a “tricycle taxi” driver and come back to the family land. The family was able to rebuild their home and the farm buildings and purchase ten cows and a multitude of sheep. We piled into Gino’s pick-up and headed off to find Wilfredo in the fields checking on his kañiwa crop. This was my first time seeing kañiwa still on the plant, and I was so excited I took a memory-card worth of photos.
You are probably wondering what kañiwa is and I am happy to enlighten you, since it is one of my new favorite foods. It is in the same goosefoot family as quinoa, which has seeped into American consciousness over the last several years. Yet kañiwa is much easier to process since it is not covered in the bitter saponin found on quinoa (saponin is removed from market-bound quinoa, but the producers eat quinoa prewashed, the ingested saponin lowering their cholesterol and protecting them against diabetes. Concentrated saponin is also used as a natural pesticide.)
Kañiwa is considered more resistant than any other crop to a combination of frost, drought, salt and pests – it is perfect for the 12,000 foot altitudes and brutal climate of the Peruvian Altiplano. The grain is a beautiful deep hue of reddish-brown, and it clings to a brick colored plant in flowering clumps. And although the grains are small, about a third the size of quinoa, they are bursting in nutrition and have a higher protein content than quinoa. I love it in salads, soups, or as a base for fish. But it also comes in flour form and makes rich earthy breads and pastries.
Wilfredo explained how prior to working with Gino, the people of this area had lost the culinary traditions associated with kañiwa, and only continued to grow it as a good source of food for their animals. Now they produce crops for sale, which helps improve the family income. Unfortunately over the past several years climate change has had a huge impact on these lands, with decreasing precipitation, increasing heat, and shorter growing seasons – thus greatly impacting the earning potential of each producer. As I dug my hands deep into the wool of one of Wilfredo’s outrageously puffy sheep, he explained how El Altiplano has helped the family diversify into animal husbandry and offset the impact of climate changes. With a low interest rate loan, they were able to purchase milk cows and sheep for meat and wool. On average they can produce 20 liters of milk a day, bringing in over 20 soles or $7, which is a significant amount of money in their depressed economy.
Wilfredo’s family learned about dairy farming from one of the many technical trainings offered by El Altiplano throughout the year. Another program trains each producer to create fertilizers and pesticides from vegetables and herbs, and discusses crop rotation and how to improve yields. In addition, the producers meet once a month to share ideas and learn practical tips. They must also participate in “etiquette and moral” discussions around personal hygiene, domestic violence, and other challenges that face their community.
After visiting several producers and seeing Gino’s programs in action – fields and fields of quinoa and kañiwa, fat cows and roly-poly sheep, ingenious house-heating technology (a cool concoction of glass windows and tubes), and engaged and energetic producers – I knew that I had found the right company to work with.
As we returned to the production facility, and our awaiting over-loaded motorcycle, I asked Gino if he had ever had a motorcycle-riding, helmet toting, blue-eyed Gringa as a customer. He most certainly had not, but he wouldn’t be where he is today if he hadn’t taken risks, so he was willing to give it a go!
You’ve got my mind spinning with questions. I try and stick to a few: Where can I buy Kaniwa? Are you currently bringing it into the country? Is Kaniwa a complete protein? Interesting part about saponin and the quinoa. So why don’t we eat it with the saponin here in the US? Is it too bitter?
This is pretty exciting. I have never heard of Kaniwa and I love learning about new foods. I would love to find some and do a few follow up recipes.
Thanks
I am sorry I left your mind spinning for so long. I have been away at a food show where we presented kañiwa in flour and grain form – great response! So hopefully you will be able to buy it in many places in the near future. Whole Foods in many regions will be picking it up, as will William Sonoma, Dean & Deluca, and many other small retailers nationwide. You can also find it on line – visit our website for online retailers: http://www.culinarycollective.com.
I am not sure if Kañiwa is considered a complete protein. Because it has rarely left the Andes, very few studies have been done on it. I will do some investigation and get back to you.
If you come up with any recipes, please send them my way and I will post them on our blog, citing you as the chef, of course!
thanks
betsy
Kañiwa has an extremely high protein content for a grain or pseudograin; however, it is not a complete protein. Threonine is the limiting amino acid.
However, since Wheat, Rice, and Corn all have lycine as their limiting amino acid, Kañiwa can easily be paired with any of the ‘big three’ grains and give a complete protein mix in a single meal.
Typo. I mean the amino acid lysine.
Betsy, I’m wondering if you’re knowledgeable on how quinoa actually gained real estate in American minds?
Also, is there opportunity for these folks to promote the crop and sell within domestic markets, or do you think it’s only wealthy American consumers who are going to create a market for this?
I am not completely familiar with the story of how Quinoa was first introduced in the US, but I do know that for decades very few people in Peru even knew about it or how to use it. It wasn’t until international demand started up that Peruvian sat up and noticed. Also, a well known Peruvian chef, Gaston Acurio, has done tremendous work to re-introduce Peruvians and the World to the culinary treasures of his country.
I hope that the Peruvian grains get a good foothold in the US to consumers of all economic levels. Quinoa is beginning to work its way into more mainstream retailers, and my goal is for kañiwa to follow suit!
Betsy–
Very glad to find a fellow Andes crop-lover. I’m currently putting together profiles on some of the traditional Muisca crops of the high plains of Colombia. In the process I’ve come across two general sources that might interest you and your readers.
One is called “Lost Crops of the Incas”, here:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030904264X
The other is “Neglected Crops: 1492 from a Different Perspective”, here:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0646e/t0646e00.HTM
Thanks so much for the great articles.
Thank-you Greg! I have the Lost Crops book, but had not heard of the other. I will be calling my local book store tomorrow!
cheers
betsy
très bon reportage betsy , surtout merçi d’avoir mentionner Mustang Joe !!
Wow, great article! Exciting to see Kaniwa being mentionned. We are trying to promote it in the u.s. We are currently making it available to distributors and have 20,000 lbs states-side. We’ve been calling it “baby quinoa.”. It is a different species, does not have saponin, so it is faster to process- does not need washing. We actully imported the seed with no polishing either, so it has a soft film covering, which hte farmers claim has many nutrients. We ran the first us nutritional analysis on the seed. Let me know if you want any of this info, we’lll be glad to share it.
We are tryung to get processors to use kaniwa, but it is very different from quinoa, mainly because if its size. We had it at hime mixed 1-3 with normal white quinoa. It comes out great in the rice cooker.
I would love to talk to you and share experiences.
- sergio from Andean Naturals.
Hi Sergio, I’d love to get more information, nutritional and how to purchase. Could you provide us with a contact? Thank you.
Hi Sergio, so glad we are in good company promoting kañiwa! I wish I had realized that you had already done so much work. We too ran the nutritional analysis – and were told that no one had done so before. We should have talked! I would be thrilled to chat and share experiences.
What a fun article Betsy, It’s so exciting to hear about “new” discoveries of interesting foods. I can’t wait to try it. Where do we purchase kaniwa? Thank you for writing.
Hey Jason, I am hoping you will be able to find kañiwa soon in many retail locations. But if you are looking for larger quantities, visit our website and we will take care of you: http://www.culinarycollective.com.
cheers
betsy
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If you are looking for bulk quantities of kaniwa,a wholesale distributor in Colorado can get it to you! They are called Golden Organics and have been in business for a long time. They are very well known for high quality and nicely priced organic bulk ingredients – http://www.goldenorganics.net/ – Take a look!!