Food and music in Andean culture

[Pianorak]

Radio 4 16/10/2017 - 16:00 - 16:30

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b098h9dl

Peruvian-born chef and record producer Martin Morales heads back to his homeland to explore the inherent link between food and music in Andean culture.
For this former music executive, the roots of Andean culture run deep, where music and food are firmly intertwined. On every step of the journey, Martin is drenched in the music of the Andes - twanging guitars, wood flutes, and even the odd harp provide the soundtrack to mealtimes.

[Globaltruth]

Thanks Pianorak, will catch it on iPlayer.

[Cockney Sparrow]

We made a four week trip to Peru in 2014. We came across Charango / string instrument makers and Mrs CS came back with a Charango, but otherwise we only came across tourist orientated groups (albeit with very accomplished players) most notably on the train ride to Cuzco - a diversion as we trundled along at ? 20mph for most of the day.

An enjoyable trip - we were maxed out on Inca sites by the end. One tip - we only spent one day in Lima, our first day in Peru and came across the Museum of the Reserve Bank purely by chance. This was their central bank building but is now a museum. It has a very helpful display showing the different civilisations which existed over the centuries (showing very clearly how the Incas were comparatively recent and the last before the arrival of the Spanish - and most memorably, a collection of exceptional ceramic objects from those civilisations/cultures. I didn't see better quality, and nothing like the quantity of these objects anywhere else.

As to the food (prominent strand of the programme, per the title) well, it conclusively proved that I (my "constitution") finds it difficult to adapt to different food / cuisine environments. (I had passed on Guinea Pig). Nothing dramatic - no specific horror stories, but it took me a good few weeks to get back to normality and feel well when we got back. (Having said that, I'm not sure it wasn't my version of altitude sickness - my co-travellers got headaches but other than the above, I didn't seem to be affected).