The food: Andean Peruvian Corn with Rock Salt and Cheese
Where to find it: Ollantaytambo Train Station, Inca Trail, Peru
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Her stare pierced my taste buds. She knew I yearned for the corn. I was about to trek the Inca Trail, and my body needed the fuel. Thankfully, the fuel displayed before me was what Peru does best: corn. The country boasts over 3,000 species of it. That’s serious variety. But what makes the corn especially diverse and delicious is its people.
Here I stood in front of a beautiful Incan-Peruvian woman, and she offered her twist on the ubiquitous, western crop. Sure, she may have used premium, Peruvian ingredients complemented with rock salt and soft cheese pairings, but it was the personal care that she placed into the corn that made it especially divine. She slow-roasted the corn over a smouldering flame back at her home in the town of Ollantaytambo. The kernels of the corn burst with flavor—plump, juicy and still warm. She cooked it just right. When I chomped into one of the cobs, I experienced an a-ha moment. Travel, food and (dare I say?) everything is oh-so good because of one reason: people.
People create a community, a country, a meal. With that realization I understood how I may give back to the world and how I may develop the international food documentary series you’ve heard me hint about here and there on this blog. From my post on “How to Find Your Mission in Life” you know that I aspire to share the world, its people and their stories. I want to create a food documentary series focused on people—the essential ingredient to anything.
Whenever I have the privilege of hearing my friends’ travel stories, I always ask: what was your favorite part of blank country? Almost without fail I get the response: the people.
Most travel TV shows present the what, the where and the when of international locations, but seldom the who and the why. And that’s what matters. I see travel TV shows about the world’s museums, about its wildlife and, of course, about its food. Heck, the Travel Channel passes Man v. Food—a show where the host gorges himself on food each episode—as a “travel” TV show. After seeing shows like this, I ask myself, “What is a travel TV show, exactly?”
Yes, I am a foodie—guilty as charged. However, I’m a foodie who embraces the entrepreneurs, artists and creators—the people who innovate. Orville Redenbacher of Indiana innovated. He took corn, roasted it and created popcorn. Peruvians use their corn to create everything from beer to desserts.
My international food documentary series will focus on the most important ingredient to travel: people. And when I say people, I’m talking about the movers and shakers who change industries, societies and cultures. Every person has a story to tell, from the Indiana entrepreneur who sold popcorn out of his car to the Incan-Peruvian woman who serves plump corn along the Inca Trail.
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Ginormous, juice corn I munched on before trekking up the Incan Trail.
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