The Rag Blog: Peruvian Marching Salad

22 December 2006

Peruvian Marching Salad

This comes courtesy of Mariann, the "Wiz." She says it's "perfect for the "Blow and Snow season", eh wot??"

Peru president favors using cocaine-producing leaf for salad
The Associated Press
Published: December 19, 2006

LIMA, Peru: President Alan Garcia on Tuesday suggested an unorthodox use for the coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine: Why not toss it in a salad?

"I insist that it can be consumed directly and elegantly in salad," Garcia told foreign correspondents at the Government Palace. "It has good nutritional value."

Garcia's comments put him in the company of leftist presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who have publicly promoted mixing the high-calcium, vitamin-rich leaf into everything from toothpaste to soft drinks.

Coca has for centuries been considered a sacred medicinal and ceremonial plant in Andean culture, and Garcia said it should not be vilified as useful solely for producing the illegal narcotic.

Garcia said Gaston Acurio, one of Peru's best known chefs, recently served several coca-based dishes for an event at the Government Palace.

"He offered us some tamales and pies made with coca flour. He offered us a coca liqueur cocktail," Garcia said. "Could eating coca leaf be harmful? No, absolutely not."

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