Dinner is served...

Having been in Peru for almost 2 months, I’ve already gotten to try many of the traditional Peruvian dishes, and I have to say…so far so good. My motto is to always try something at least once. I haven’t said no to anything yet, and I haven’t regretted it either. 

Peru’s culinary dishes are a bit of a mixture, as is the Peruvian culture in general. A lot of the dishes have changed throughout the decades, but many were formed from the slaves. The story goes that the slaves were given the “leftovers,” so to speak, from the animals while the Spaniards ate the good meat. “Leftovers” included all innards and the organs. So today, some of Peru’s famous dishes include cow heart (anticucho), intestines (relleno), and much, much more. 

So here are my two cents, or in Peru, shall I say mi dos semillas:

Pollo a la Brasa

This is basically roasted chicken with a side of fries. There is a chain restaurant called “Norky’s,” which is quite popular. So much so that there are many knock-off restaurant, my favorite is “Dorky’s.” I’ve eaten here twice and I have to say that the meat is especially tender and delicious, although some vegetables on the side beside the French fries would give me a few days before my next heart attack.

Cuy

Yes, Cuy, or Guinea Pig in English, is a delicacy in Peru. When people ask me if we eat cuy in the United States, I delightfully inform them that no actually, Guinea Pigs are pets. I’m just glad I never had a guinea pig growing up or I think it would be much harder to choke it down. My family made “Cuy de Picante” one night and it was RI-CO. I’m pretty sure it was the sauce they put it in. It had a peanut base and of course Aji, so it had a little bite to it, but I just couldn’t get enough. My family has very impressed because this was the first time I had seconds. Cuy tastes a lot like chicken, as do many things, and my only pet peeve is that there are a lot of little bones, but it’s definitely worth the time. Cuy is more of a Sierra thing, where supposedly it is not uncommon to find hair in your soup or even brains. MMMmmm can’t wait.

Sangrecita

So this is a dish that I actually tried before knowing it and I’m glad of my ignorance. Our class took a trip to a “Wawa Wasi” or child daycare basically, and got to sample some of the food they give the kids. We were given this vegetable mixture with dark flakes over rice. After the first bite, it wasn’t half bad, so I asked what was in it….(Drum roll please)….Chicken Blood! Sangrecita is just a mixture of vegetables and blood of some sort. Not only did I sample Sangrecita, but I also had chocolate mousse with blood, and picharones with blood. Now I have to give props to the Peruvian government, they are getting pretty creative on ways to prevent anemia in children, so good call on their part.

Lucuma

So one glorious day at “La Agraria,” we spent tasting all the tropical fruit of the “Selva” (Jungle). Seriously, the best day ever. And on that day, we got to sample the illusive lucuma! Lucuma is everywhere….lucuma flavored yogurt, ice cream, cookies, etc. The only problem was that I never had actually seen a real lucuma. Turns out it’s hard to find when it’s not in season (April-June…duly noted), but thanks to the excellent helpers at “La Agraria,” we got to taste it. Lucuma is kind of like a sweet acorn squash, only really dry, but once you get a mouth full, it’s hard to choke it down. I don’t think anything will take the place of my favorite fruit, Chirimoya, but Lucuma comes in a close second.

Ceviche

So if you have ever talked to anyone from Peru, they will always recommend you try Ceviche. Ceviche is basically raw fish or seafood soaked in lemon juices to “cook” it. Our teachers were wary of us trying this in the first few weeks of training, but they finally broke down half way through and took us to La Punta, near Lima, which juts out into the sea and is surrounded by the Pacific on both sides. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it since eating raw fish on sushi kind of grosses me out, but I sucked it up for the sake of the experience and tried it. Again, I was pleasantly surprised. I actually….liked it! It’s hard to describe, but the fish was just so tender and the sauce it was in contained aji, of course, so there was a kick in it as well. Luckily, my stomach agreed with me as well, so I didn’t have any problems afterwards. So don’t worry, I’m still not about of the “70%” club…yet…

Picharones

Picharones are Peru’s answer to “Dunkin Donuts.” They are made of sweet potatoes, squash, and flour and then deep fat fried and served with honey. MMMMmmm Good! I’ve had these a few times. Once with another volunteer’s host mom who prepared them for us and another at the Wawa Wasi (with blood ofcourse), but both times were amazingly good. My plan is to learn the recipe and replicate them in the states…try to give “Dunkin Donuts” a run for their money.

Aji de Gallina

This was one of the first dishes I tried in Peru, and actually also the first meal in Peru that I cooked as well! My Spanish class helped with the preparation of “Aji de Gallina,” which is basically pulled chicken with an aji-creamed based. The part I was surprised the most was when the recipe asked for crumbled up saltine crackers mixed in with water and milk. I thought that was kind of odd, but it added some thickness to the sauce.  The pulled chicken is added to the pulled chicken and then poured over cooked potatoes and topped off with a hardboiled egg and olive.  Delectable.

Foods still to try:

Panchamanca (meats of all kind buried underneath the ground surrounded my hot rocks)

Anticuchos (Cow hearts)

Well I hope you have cleaned up your pool of drool right now. I hope you have enjoyed a little taste (pun intended…ha) of what Peru has to offer...and something to look forward to if any of you decide to visit. Provecha!

Also on another note,I have lots of photos to add, but not enough time to upload them right now. If you can´t hardly wait to see what I´ve been up to these past few weeks, click on my Flickr Photostream on the side of my blog. I´m working on captions, but be patient...that might take a while.