Peruvian delights
Back from Peru.
Tried alpaca meat. It’s strong and slightly gamy, reminiscent of lamb. Intended to try guinea pig but didn’t. No tamales either. Among the culinary highlights:
-Quinoa soup. I’m sure there are many recipes, but this one was like an egg drop soup with quinoa. My favourite grain, in a soup.
-The corn. The kernels are huge, like Ontario corn on steroids.
-In Aguas Calientes they make carrot garnishes into birds, fish and other animals. Not really a culinary highlight but worth noting, and it’s shown in the photo gallery.
-Choco Soda chocolate covered graham crackers. Maybe not a “culinary” highlight but a snack highlight/ delight nonetheless. Why does no one make chocolate covered graham crackers here? I missed my chance to buy a box of them, then couldn’t find them. *sigh*
-A pancake (rectangular, like a folded crepe) with dulche de leche.
-Ceviche! Especially the ceviche mixto in Lima, made with a variety of seafood including scallops, shrimp, crawfish and squid. The accompanying (free) appetizer was a squid spring roll. This was on my last day in the country when I was in Lima killing time before my midnight (actually 1am after delay) flight. Before that I’d had a decent ceviche of some sort of white fish in Cusco, and a trout ceviche in Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes. Both were good, but not as good as the ceviche in Lima, which tasted fresher and more flavourful. It was served properly with sweet potato and two types of corn: Cooked kernals and lightly salted roasted kernals that taste like unpopped popcorn.
There is ceviche in Toronto, I’ve just never had it here. Now I want to seek out Peruvian food. I’ve heard that the Boulevard Cafe does ceviche and it’s not far from home.
-Andean trout made with a sauce of purple corn, cinnamon and other spices that I didn’t note. Afterwards I wish I’d taken a photo of the menu entry so that I could describe it accurately. The menu didn’t describe the side of quinoa but it was cheesy, orange and had onion in it.
Photo gallery below. The photo of the ceviche mixto won’t upload but the spring rolls are there.
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- Andean trout with cheesy quinoa
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- Corn kernels the size of a baby’s fist.
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- Pancake with dulche de leche
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- Buffet lunch of traditional Peruvian food
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- Pisco Sour
Thanks for sharing that. I love trying new things when traveling too (not that I travel outside the country much these days, but there are still some exotic items to be tried in Israel too).
Have to say though, the corn kernels don’t look that huge in the picture – unless it’s a really huge pot.
Hi: I am happy to know you have tried some great food that many will never get to appreciate. We live in Toronto and love our culture and traditions.
This is what we do in Toronto. We are trying to share some of the best Empanadas and Alfajores (That we love) with those that can’t be in Peru but live in Toronto. Hope you like what you see.
I hope you liked the Pisco, and we eat Quinua at home. It is hard to find the Big corn in Toronto. Mostly Kensington Market. Peru has really good seafood. I live a few years in Lima.
Regards Javier