Peruvian Food

Peru is famous throughout South America for its food. As a major fishing nation, fish is abundant, and prepared with imagination.

The primary ingredients found in nearly every Peruvian dish are rice, potatoes, chichen, pork, lamb, and fish. Most of these meals include one of the different kinds of "aji", or Peruvian hot pepper, which mainly are: yellow aji pepper, red aji pepper, red rocoto pepper

Chicken, pork and lamb were introduced to Peru 500 years ago, when Spaniards came to America. Other ingredients, like potatoes, were already being grow in the Peruvian Andes and were taken by the Spaniards back to Europe.

Today more than 200 varieties of potato can be found in the Lake Titicaca area. They range in color from purple to blue, from yellow to brown. Sizes and textures vary as well. Some are smalls as nuts; others can be as large as oranges.

Following are some of the dishes and foods that can found in Peru.

· Pescado y Mariscos (Fish and Seafood) – Anything with fish is a great bet. Ceviche is the most famous. Peruvians "cook" fine white cod in lemon juice, serve it chunky with onions and spices. In the mountains, you can find "trucha," the local fresh Andean trout, generally farm raised.

· Comida Criolla – This is the term for the traditional Peruvian dishes. Aji de gallina (spicy chicken stew), lomo saltado (stir-fry beef), chupe (fish stew) anticuchos (marinated beef heart). Vegetables play a major role in these dishes.

· Chifa – This is the term for Chinese restaurants in Peru. From very elegant to simple, all seem to serve excellent food in and around Lima. Peruvians love to celebrate events at the Chifas.

· Inca Cola – The color of this soft drink is bright yellow and it smells like bubble gum.

· Aji de Gallina: shredded chicken in a spiced milk sauce.

· Adobo de cerdo: Pork sauce, served with white rice.

· Arroz con Pollo: Boiled chicken seasoned with a green sauce. Served always with green rice (rice cooked with albahaca)

· Anticuchos: marinated grilled beef heart.

· Carapulca: It is made from dried and diced potatoes with pork, steak and rice.

· CauCau: Consists of tripe and diced potatoes

· Ceviche: Fish or mixed shrimp with lemon. The seafood is cut into small pieces and then mixed with lemon juice and left to sit for 1hr. Next, it is mixed with onions, celery, cilantro, salt and black pepper. The dish is served cold.

· Escabeche de pescado: Boiled fish seasoned with onions, aji and lemon juice

· Ocopa: boiled potatoes in a seasoned sauce of cheese and nuts

· Pachamanca: This is a typical dish from the desert. It consists of lamb, pork, meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a tamale. First, one has to heat rocks on the floor using firewood. When they are hot enough, the food is placed inside a sac and buried in the hot rocks. The food has to be repeatedly checked to see when it is done because the temperature is unstable.

· Papa la Huancaina: Potatoes served with a special spicy sauce, olives, lettuce and egg.

· Papa Rellena: meat-stuffed potato patties.

· Parihuela: Fish, shrimp crabs, mussels and octopus. Served with yuca and rice.

· Rocoto Relleno: Typical dish with meat, onions, peanuts, milk and eggs, everything baked inside of the delicious rocoto (pepper), with potatoes and cheese.

· Seco de frejoles: Boiled beans with a lamb stew in green sauce, always served with white rice and raw onions seasoned with lemon and aji.

· Roast cuy, or guinea pig, is considered a delicacy, and is traditionally served for very special occasions.

Western culture has made its mark on Peru, and one of the signs of change is the popularity of pizza. The Peruvians make it their own way, though, in the old-style, wood-burning ovens that have been part of the Peruvian landscape long before pizza was ever heard of here.

For an online cookbook with names and photos of many dishes, check out http://www.saboresdelperu.com/index.htm. However this site is in Spanish.