Peru – What should you eat?

Peruvian cuisine is one of the world’s most important and diversified cuisines and is an exemplar of fusion cuisine, due to its long multicultural history. The specialties reflects local practices and ingredients from indigenous population (ex: Incas) and cuisines brought in with immigrants from Europe, Asia and Africa. The four traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are corn, potatoes (about 3800 varieties in the country), amaranthaceaes (quinoa, kañiwa and kiwicha) and legumes (ex: beans). The Spanish also brought rice, wheat and meats.

I’ll be updating this list as I taste the different dishes… Miam…
♥: dishes I really recommend

Here are a few dishes you should try in Peru:

• Ají de gallon ♥: thin strips of chicken served with a creamy yellow and spicy sauce, made with ají amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilis), cheese, milk and crackers
• Arroz a la cubana: originally from Cuba, it is a dish eaten in many latino countries. It consists in rice, a fried egg, a plantain banana and tomato sauce
• Arroz con mariscos: rice with seafood (a lot like the Spanish paella)
• Arroz con pollo: rice cooked with chicken
• Butifarras or Jamon del Pais: sandwich with Peruvian ham, sliced onions, sliced chili peppers, lime, salt, pepper, oil, in a white bread roll
• Camote ♥: sweet patato
• Cau cau: stew served with rice. There are numerous variations of Cau Cau (mussel, fish, chicken, etc.) Strips of pre-cooked meat/fish are cooked together with onions, yellow Peruvian chilies, garlic and chunks of potatoes
• Ceviche (de pescado) ♥: fresh raw fish cured in lime juice and spiced with chili peppers. Additional seasonings, such as chopped onions, salt, and cilantro, may also be added. It is usually accompanied by sweet potato, lettuce, corn.
• Ceviche or cebiche: other types of ceviche exist in Peru, for example the ceviche mix (raw fish and seafood), ceviche de polpo (prepared with octopus), ceviche de mango (mango preparation), etc.
• Chaufa: fried rice
• Chicharrones (de credo) ♥: usually salted pork deep-fried in its own fat. But it can also be deep-fried seafood (chicharonnes de mariscos)
• Churros ♥: fried dough. It looks the same as the traditional churros you’re used to, but Peruvian churros are stuffed with dulce de leech
• Empanada: baked bread stuffed with chicken, beef, or cheese. They can also add olives, hard boiled eggs or raisins.
• Granadilla: similar to passion fruit but a lot sweeter
• Lomo saltado: sliced beef stir-fried with garlic, cumin powder, tomato, onions and soy sauce, served with fried potatoes, coriander and parsley and accompanied with white rice
• Palta: avocado
• Papa a la Huancaina ♥: sliced boiled potatoes covered in a cheesy, slightly spicy yellow sauce served on top of lettuce. This dish is usually garnished with a quarter of a hard-boiled egg and olives.
• Papa rellena ♥: mashed potato croquette stuffed with ground beef. It can be a bit spicy.
• Picarones: fried dough, looks like thin donuts normally served with syrup similar to honey (not my favorite)
• Pollo tipakay ♥: sweet and sour chicken with a soya based sauce
• Raspadilla: snow cones, shaved ice topped with flavored sugar syrup
• Tacu tacu: mixture of rice, beans, bacon, onions and spices is formed to a thick pancake and stir-fried. It’s either served as a meal for itself or with a steak and topped with a fried egg.

And a few drinks, as well:

• Chicha mirada ♥: non-alcoholic juice made from purple corn and spices (sugar, cinnamon and clove)
• Chilcano ♥: cocktail made with pisco, ginger ale and lime juice
• Cusqueña: beer from Cuzco, exists in different colors
• Inca kola: the local Coke that tastes nothing like Coke! Yellow, it tastes like chewing gum and has a lot of sugar. If you need a boost…
• Pisco sour: cocktail made with Peruvian pisco as the base liquor, lime juice, syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters
• Maracuja sour ♥: same as the pisco sour but with passion fruit juice
• Maracuja: passion fruit juice