Thursday, June 25, 2009

I HEART Peru(vian Food)

Foods I'll Miss The Most, I Think.
  • Aji from Pardo's (it's a sauce made from the aji pepper that you dunk your roasted chicken into - or drink with a straw, whatever)
  • Mangos & Grenadilla & Pineapple & the Fresh Orange Juice - oh, the fruits I missed growing up in Connecticut
  • Anticuchos - grilled beef hearts - done right with the perfect marinade - delicioso!
  • Mate de Coca & Lemongrass tea from Machu Picchu Santuary Lodge - unfortunately I can't travel with coca leaves for obvious reasons, so this one will have to wait until we return to MP!
  • Pulpo Bebe a la Parrilla (Grilled Baby Octopus)... Mmmmmmmmmm, especially from Laeñe
  • Tacu-Tacu - a mash made from rice and beans, then lightly fried
  • Papitas con Huancaina sauce (potatoes with a creamy, peppery? sauce)
  • Choclo con queso in Ollantaytambo (corn with a salty fresh cheese)
  • A good empanada (but not with the powdered sugar, I don't like the savory/sweet mix)
  • A GOOD Pisco Sour (until I drank too many one night - and haven't had one in 2 years!)
  • Lucuma ice cream
  • Cusqueña beer (some people complain about the Peruvian beer and/or lack of variety - I love it - especially on a hot summer day!)
  • The fantastic fresh fish and cevicherias
Really I could go on all day. The food here is, in a word, AMAZING! It's fresh and best of all, cheap! I knew nothing of Peruvian cuisine before I moved here. I thought it was like a lot of other Central and South American cuisines with rice and beans and a little kick. While there is some of that, it doesn't define the food here. I'm not sure I could do it justice by trying to summarize it in a sentence, so I won't! Come down here and experience it yourself!

What would have made this post SUPER special is if I ate all of these things this past week and took my own photos of them... Unfortunately, life has been horrendous and my to-do list can't include go to different restaurants, order these foods and take photos. But, now, I'm hungry and wish I had AND wish I could eat all of these one last time or maybe two or three more times in this next week. Maybe there's still time!

3 comments:

Hugo said...

Hey Jules-

I'm figuring that alot of the same food you ate in Peru would be found in Chile. A good pisco sour is a perfect drink. And not sure how the empanadas are done in Peru, but I hope not fried. A real emapanada is baked...and I agree, no sugar please. Can't wait to hear more of your tales!

Julie said...

Peruvian empanadas are baked too! I had an Argentinian one the other night which was fried. It was good, but I could only eat one because it was RICH!

Celia said...

You CANNOT leave Peru without one last pisco sour. Two years ago? Seriously?!