Author name: ColibriOrigins

In the inter-Andean valleys of Peru grows a root that almost no one outside the country knows how to recognize: the yacón. We tell you its history, its origin, and why it has nothing to do with jicama.

Unlike the aguaje, which is still waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world, maca needs no introduction: it’s sold in capsules, powder, and gelatinized form in health food stores across half the planet, and is probably the most internationally recognized Peruvian superfood. What’s rarely told is where it actually comes from —

In the flood-prone areas of the Peruvian Amazon, known as restinga, a palm tree has grown alongside the rainforest for generations: Mauritia flexuosa, the aguaje. It is a fruit deeply rooted in the identity of the Peruvian rainforest — especially in the Loreto region — although the world does not yet know it the way