Cooking with the sun without forgetting Grandma

In Pica, the sun is a constant presence in the landscape for much of the year. It is found in the crops, in daily routines, and in the culinary experience Ruth Moscoso Mamani has created at Qori Inti.

Her relationship with cooking is built on memories that span generations.

Ruth speaks of dishes, techniques, and knowledge passed down within her family. When recalling calapurca, for instance, she mentions a lesson from her grandmother and mother: the dish had to be plated to resemble a hill or a mountain. Over the years, that instruction took on deeper meaning for her as she connected it to the hot stone and the image of a volcano.

These details reveal how one learns to cook long before a recipe is ever written down.

Also etched in her memory is the preparation of ulpo, made from toasted quinoa flour and ice-cold water. Ruth remembers watching her grandmother and wondering why she prepared it that way. Today, drawing on her own culinary experience, she revisits those actions and finds answers to things she once simply learned by watching.

That memory lives on at Qori Inti.

Ruth defines the restaurant’s concept by valuing dishes rooted in family and local history. Calapurca plays a key role in that experience. Its preparation retains a recognizable foundation, even though different regions may contribute their own unique ingredients and variations.

One component requires special attention: the hulled corn must reach a specific stage of cooking and texture. Ruth explains that the grain needs to reach the right point to open up and achieve the consistency she seeks for the dish.

At Qori Inti, solar cookers opened up new possibilities for managing this process.

Learning to use them took time.

Early attempts offered concrete lessons. They started out using pots with handles that would burn when exposed to the concentrated heat. They had to observe the sun’s movement, adjust the cookers, test different vessels, and find materials that performed better.

It was a process of trial and error.

Then came further experiments: pressure cookers, meats, and other foods. Over time, solar ovens were also introduced, expanding the possibilities to include items like bread and other dishes on the menu.

In this way, the sun became an active part of the Qori Inti experience.

For Ruth, harnessing solar energy is also linked to caring for the environment. During the interview, she speaks of clean energy and the savings it can offer for certain cooking processes. This perspective aligns with another recurring theme in her story: a respectful relationship with the produce, its natural cycles, and the people who grow it.

In her kitchen, ingredients are never viewed in isolation from their origins.

Ruth speaks of quinoa, corn, vegetables, and other products by connecting them to the people who plant, tend, and harvest them. Even the availability of certain dishes may vary according to the season. When a specific product arrives, a corresponding dish appears; when its cycle ends, the kitchen adapts once more.

This capacity for adaptation is also an integral part of Qori Inti.

Innovation here meets a clear boundary: the need to truly understand the materials one is working with.

The dishes carry stories, preparation methods, and regional nuances that deserve to be heard. Ruth draws on what she learned from her family while also acknowledging the work of those dedicated to reviving traditional recipes. Her sister Erika, for instance, plays a key role in rescuing dishes that had begun to fade from use—including certain types of chicha traditionally made by the family.

Thus, the kitchen becomes a space where different generations continue to converse.

At a single table, one might find a dish learned from a grandmother, a product from a different ecological zone, and a unique way of utilizing the sun’s heat. Each element has its own story and gains meaning when its origins are understood.

This combination makes the Qori Inti experience particularly valuable for visitors to Pica.

Visitors can taste a dish while simultaneously learning about the ingredients, their seasonal cycles, the people who cultivate them, and the traditional knowledge that shapes the cuisine. Solar ovens and cookers are part of that experience, demonstrating another way of engaging with the oasis’s natural conditions.

At its heart, Ruth’s story is about continuity.

About observing before altering.

About learning before creating.

About remembering who taught the craft.

And about allowing a way of cooking to remain alive while discovering new possibilities.

At Qori Inti, the sun offers a method of cooking, while memory continues to guide the way in recognizing when a dish is truly ready.