Reuters: Peru Attracting Culinary Visitors

A recent article by Reuters, which appeared at CNN and other media worldwide, is adding to the buzz about Peruvian cuisine, calling Peru 'a magnet for culinary tourists'.

The article explains that for years, many travelers (mostly backpackers eager to head to the Andes) regarded Lima as a place in which to land whilst one headed elsewhere. But increasingly, Lima is attracting high-end visitors and one of the key baits to bring those well-heeled tourists is Peruvian cuisine.

This new type of culinary tourist enjoys visiting the local markets as well as fine restaurants in the city.

Interestingly, the unnamed author echoes something Javier Wong mentioned to me, about how recent Japanese influence on ceviche means that now, the fish is marinated in lime juice for just a few minutes, while in the past, it used to be marinated for much longer. Other classic Peruvian dishes mentioned are carapulcra, and anticuchos.

The new boom of gastronomic tourists also means a boom in gastronomic tours, such as Culinary Tour Peru run by Patricia La Rosa (also recently mentioned in El Comercio). Coltur, one of the big tour operators in Lima, offers the Culinary Tour, a day-long event, and their spokesperson believes this 'discovery' of Peruvian cuisine will lead to increased tourism to Peru.

As Fernando Pacheco, of Caplina Restaurants states, "Peru with its food has been like a pauper sitting on a bench of gold."

To read the complete article click here.

UPDATE August 2008: The above link is broken, to read this Reuters article in its entirety, follow this link.

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TAGS: Peru, Peruvian, food, cooking, cuisine, cocina, comida, gastronomía, peruana