RAKACHA
- Kami Kenna
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
Welcome to my process blog. This might get a little nerdy, but hopefully it’ll be interesting for anyone in the beverage world—or anyone curious about endemic Andean–Amazonian ingredients from Peru. I’m spending one month at Gocta Lab in Amazonas, Peru, developing a beverage from local ingredients, and this space is where I’ll document that work.
Ingredient #1:
Rakacha is an ancestral Andean tuber; its domestication predates that of the potato and corn. It is likely the oldest cultivar in South America.
Its growing cycle is 10-12 months and must be harvested before flowering. It grows between 1,500 and 3,000 meters above sea level. The highest genetic diversity has been found around Cajamarca, La Libertad, and Cuzco in Peru, suggesting these regions as potential centers of origin, even though the crop thrives throughout the entire Andean mountain chain. Today, Colombia is the largest grower of the tuber.
It belongs to the Apiaceae family alongside carrot and celery, and can be white, yellow, or purple.
The main drawback is that it doesn’t last long in storage, making a solution for its preservation all the more necessary.
Rakacha should be cooked with its skin on and removed before eating. It is used for purees and in stews as a substitute for potatoes or yuca. It is high in vitamins, and its starches are easily digestible, it is made up of 82% starch.
In Brazil and Colombia, they make rakacha chicha, sweet arepas, and candies combined with sugar cane.
Rakacha is a Quechua word, while in Spanish the plant is known as arracacha, zanahoria blanca, or apio criollo.
División……………………. Spermatophyta.
Subdivisión……………….. Magnoliophyta (Angiospermae)
Clase………………………. Magnoliatae (Dicotiledónea).
Subclase………………….. Rosidae.
Orden……………………… Umbellales (Arialales).
Familia…………………….. Umbelliferae (Apiaceae).
Género…………………….. Arracacia.
Especie……………………. Arracacia xanthorrhiza
SOURCES
BLANCKE, ROLF. “Tubers.” Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World: An Illustrated Guide, Cornell University Press, 2016, pp. 258–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctvrf8b9w.6. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.
PROCESO DESTILADO DE RAKACHA:
1st GOAL
Create an ideal mother to inoculate larger batches
See if viable to distill
PROCESS
3 kilos de rakacha comprado en Chachapoyas 12/3
Lavar
Pelar
Cortar
Cocinar hasta que esté blando (1 hora)
Dejar enfriar (overnight)
Ya frio, colar
Licuar + agua (1:1)
Separar en jarras cubiertas con tela
12/5
2.75 kilos peladas + 6 litros de agua a hervir
40 minutos hirviendo huele muy fuerte - como huacatay, herbal, (crazy)
60 minutos hervido, deje para enfriar
12/6
Licuado mitad rakacha cocida con mitad agua
Dividido entre 4 jarras (R1 entre los cosmos (cempasuchil silvestre MX), R1 en la chacra, R1 bajo el vid (Albilla))
4ta jarra dejado en el lab como control
Puesto a las 10 am 21 Celsius, traje todas las jarras al lab a las 6pm, allí se quedan.
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