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Food in Peru

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Trout Tartare

Traveling in Central America we very quickly got sick of the basics of rice, beans, and a side of meat. In Arequipa, Peru, we were delighted to learn that the basics were delicious from spicy stuffed peppers to sliced potatoes in a rich peanut sauce. In Cusco the basics continue to be tasty with their herb-laden soups and variations on fresh trout from stewed to fried to ceviche. But the truly spectacular restaurants in Peru combine these traditional specialties with the styles of other cultures executed to a high culinary quality.

In Peru, Gaston Acurio is Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and Giada De Laurentiis all rolled into one. His lofty goal is to spread Peruvian cuisine throughout the world ambushing countries one by one with an ingenious blend of local ingredients and Peruvia techniques. In his country Gaston has elevated the local cuisine to new heights and introduced foreign influences, from Japanese to Italian. For example, at his trattoria in an old monestary in Arequipa we enjoyed Italian food with an Arequipeñan twist such as saffron risotto stuffed into a spicy rocoto pepper and moist chicken ravioli swimming in a creamy puree of aji peppers and peanuts (aji de gallina ravioli).

Other restaurants in big cities of Peru have made similar culinary jumps and we have taken it upon ourselves to feast at a new high-end Peruvian restaurant every week. In Cusco, amidst the sea of bland restaurants offering grilled alpaca and baked guinea pig, there are some standouts creating delicious and inspired cooking. One of the best dishes we’ve enjoyed was at the artsy restaurant, Macondo. Shredded alpaca was marinated in lime, peppers, onions, spices and served in hollowed out citrus shells, an appropriate starter to a meal heavily influenced by Inkan basics.

These restaurants are great, but a more accessible option is Juanito’s, an ambitious shop one block from our apartment. They churn out sandwiches, french fries, and fruit juices using some of the best bread in town and your choice of 12 sauces ranging from tzatziki to chimichurri to ketchup. They serve you a Philly cheesestreak, an avocado sandwich, or Adam’s fave a sliced suckling pig sandwich stacked high with mini tamales.

From our daily lunch set menus at dive-ish restaurants to the nicest meals in city, it’s easy to be thoroughly impressed with Peruvian cuisine. Hopefully someday Gaston will have his wish and peruvian ingredients and food will be readily available throughout the world.

Going Shopping

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

 Potato vendor in market Alpaca, potato, wine

In Pittsburgh, we cook almost every night, but in our first week in Peru it was hard to imagine cooking dinner that was more worthwhile than going out to a restaurant. Then we visited Arequipa’s main market. Now we aim to cook at least once a week.

After trying alpaca steaks at restaurants around town, we wanted to try cooking it ourselves but first we needed to find the raw meat. Overwhelmed in the beef section, we confused one of the butchers by asking for alpaca and were kindly sent in the right direction. Leaving the beef behind, we pass the aisle of chicken livers, feet, breasts, beaks and you get the point. We pass the pork aisle with its giant loins waiting to be sliced. We walk very quickly by the aisles of innards, especially creeped out by the staring heads. Finally, we reach an aisle with one manned stall and a small hand-written sign that says “carne de alpaca”. Raw meat sits on the counter but happily when we requests 2 filets, the lady reaches behind to fetch fresh meat from her fridge and slices it for us.

But meat is just one section of this market. Adam encourages us to get our veggies as far from the meat as possible – about 20 feet. We aren’t hard-pressed to find limes, tomatoes, onions and garlic – temporarily bypassing the Peruvian favorites of rocoto (very spicy “bell peppers”), choclo (giant mutant corn) and zapallo (an estranged relative of pumpkin) and oodles of other basic veggies. You might think potatoes would be grouped with these ordinary vegetables but in Peru, potatoes are a food group and deserve their own area of the market. They come in every color of the rainbow (but don’t buy the green ones), ranging in size from golf balls to baseballs, and flavor-sealed by dirt.

We find a reason to be glad of Spanish colonialism when we stumble on the aisles of cheese and olives. To help us decide between the vast array of options, the vendors proffer samples perched on toothpicks. An afternoon snack later, we walk away with some more goodies.

Lacking a mortar and pestle, we rely on the colorful array presented by one of the sauce magicians. We tell him we have 2 steaks. He fills up and hands us a little plastic baggie filled with some type of sauce. See? Magic.

Wishing we had brought a shopping bag, we balance all of our purchases for the 15-minute walk home and promptly put our alpaca meat in the fridge. Grocery shopping may be just as fun as cooking in Arequipa.

Hoy Adobo

Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Elsa’s Adobo On Sundays, various restaurants around Arequipa set out signs saying: "Hoy Adobo" (Today Adobo). After brief investigation, we learn that the nearby suburb Cayma is THE place to enjoy this local specialty. A ... [Continue reading this entry]

Pupusa Hour

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
La Palma Mural Pupusa maker As our bus approached a police checkpoint near the El Salvador border, the bus conductor informed everyone, they ... [Continue reading this entry]

Eating in Nicaragua

Monday, February 11th, 2008
Breakfast in Nicaragua is one of two options. 1) A pastry from the panederia or street corner 2) ¨Desayuno¨ which means gallopinto (rice and beans), eggs, queso, tortillas, and optional meat, served with a sugary sweet black coffee. If we opt for ... [Continue reading this entry]

Same Same But Different

Sunday, April 1st, 2007
Rice and Lake Green Butterflies Picnic [Continue reading this entry]

A Primer on Eating in Malaysia

Friday, February 9th, 2007
Roti Canai Stall One of the things we looked forward to most before leaving the U.S.A. was the food we'd be having. The indian food was of course good, but not ... [Continue reading this entry]