Sorry folks, but I'm in Texas until after March 4th, so no Peru Food blogging until then. Stop by again!
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
00:25 seconds. The narrator, Pedro, is quite the witty video personality, filming during his trip to Los Órganos, Piura, in the far north of Peru.
He sets the stage, gives us the money shot, and then ponders the meaning of it all.
First, he lets us know the setting: "We're eating typical Piura-style food, with chiii-flesss (banana chips, said in the typical accent of Piura), a delicious and wonderful ceviche, and a tee-shirt that says Brazil, I don't know why."
Then, he gets philosophical: "And me. Always me. Filming."
And finally, just goofy: No translation necessary.
One in an occasional series of posts with videos of everyday people in Peru filming their Peruvian food.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
At Writing to you all! Sylvia, a globe-trotting Peruvian, keeps in touch with "family and friends out there, whoever and wherever you might be!"
From Peru to Spain to Austria, she enjoys her Peruvian food and recently reviewed her trip to El Inti de Oro, one of Madrid's oldest Peruvian restaurants.
Read the post and see her pics here. She also recently posted about the other Peruvian cocktail, the cóctel de algarrobina, at this post.
El Inti de Oro
Calle de Ventura de la Vega 12, Madrid
Phone: 91-429-6703
Peruvian food seems to be everywhere these days. On The Blogs is a feature here at Peru Food in which I comment and link to what other bloggers are writing and posting about Peruvian food.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
Ancient Peruvians were no strangers to Peruvian food.
According to Vanderbilt University, "Anthropologists working on the slopes of the Andes in northern Peru have discovered the earliest-known evidence of peanut, cotton and squash farming dating back 5,000 to 9,000 years. Their findings provide long-sought-after evidence that some of the early development of agriculture in the New World took place at farming settlements in the Andes.
The discovery was published in Science.
The research team made their discovery in the Ñanchoc Valley, which is approximately 500 meters above sea level on the lower western slopes of the Andes in northern Peru.
'We believe the development of agriculture by the Ñanchoc people served as a catalyst for cultural and social changes that eventually led to intensified agriculture, institutionalized political power and new towns in the Andean highlands and along the coast 4,000 to 5,500 years ago,' Tom D. Dillehay, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University and lead author on the publication, said. 'Our new findings indicate that agriculture played a broader role in these sweeping developments than was previously understood.'Dillehay and his colleagues found wild-type peanuts, squash and cotton as well as a quinoa-like grain, manioc and other tubers and fruits in the floors and hearths of buried preceramic sites, garden plots, irrigation canals, storage structures and on hoes. The researchers used a technique called accelerator mass spectrometry to determine the radiocarbon dates of the materials. Data gleaned from botanists, other archaeological findings, and a review of the current plant community in the area suggest the specific strains of the discovered plant remains did not naturally grow in the immediate area.
'The plants we found in northern Peru did not typically grow in the wild in that area,' Dillehay said. 'We believe they must have therefore been domesticated elsewhere first and then brought to this valley by traders or mobile horticulturists.'
'The use of these domesticated plants goes along with broader cultural changes we believe existed at that time in this area, such as people staying in one place, developing irrigation and other water management techniques, creating public ceremonials, building mounds and obtaining and saving exotic artifacts.'
The researchers dated the squash from approximately 9,200 years ago, the peanut from 7,600 years ago, and the cotton from 5,500 years ago."
Source: EurekAlert!
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
Sea urchin, erizo de mar, Tetrapygus niger: an odd creature if ever there was one, like a marine porcupine or hedgehog.
Ancient Peruvians savored their tasty meat which makes you feel as if you are eating the ocean itself. It is a flavor of the Pacific, of waves crashing, of deep currents moving swiftly beneath the whitecaps.
According to Sergio Zapata, sea urchins are easily found along the Peruvian coast and very popular. In Peru, they make omelettes out of them, and they can also be savored raw or lightly cooked.
The sea urchin pictured here was most likely found along the coast near Trujillo, in the north of Peru.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
In Peru, the word huarique (wa-ree-key) refers to a very special type of restaurant: usually, it's a small, family-run establishment known for the quality of its food, often specializing in one dish, served informally at good value.
In English, the closest equivalent is a hole-in-the-wall.
But, we often find the best food at those holes-in-the-wall, don't we?
This video (in Spanish, but well-worth a view, although the high-pitched narrator IS annoying) comes to us from the program of Magaly Medina, a controversial Peruvian television personality. Her program, Magaly TeVe, is known for yellow-journalism focused on finding the dirt on Peru's minuscule movie and television community. She's a kind of Peruvian Perez Hilton, with her own TV show yet equally bad hair.
Magaly Medina aside, once in a while her show has more general interest features. This video is one such case.
In 06:38 minutes, one of her reporters visits four Lima huariques, and there are great views of Peruvian food and the inner workings of these humble establishments. Humble yes, but gastronomically rich.
The video starts off with the reporter shrieking: Comer rico no es un lujo, eating well is no luxury, especially if you go to those temples of flavor, the huariques, where Lima's best flavors are hidden.
The first place featured is a hole-in-the-wall if there ever was one: Chanfainita Plus on Avenida Jose Leal in Lima's Lince district. The specialty of the house? Chanfainita, a highly seasoned stew of organ meats and potatoes. Diners have been going to this locale, which only has two short counters and is run by Doña Cecilia, for the last 30 years. During her interview segment, Doña Cecilia says when she arrived in Lima decades ago from her native Arequipa, she began to cook chanfainita, and since then her business has grown and grown. And, while she has been offered the possibility of moving to a proper restaurant, she refuses to do so because she doesn't want to lose her current customers.
The next huarique featured is one written about here on Peru Food: Mi Perú in Barranco. The specialty of the house is the concentrado de cangrejo, a crab concentrate, and tortilla de huevera, a roe omelette. Mi Perú has also been in business for the last 30 years, and is well worth a visit.
Magaly's reporter also visits the Establecimiento del Tío Mono in Ciudad del Pescador, part of El Callao's (the port of Lima) Bellavista neighborhood. This is a northern-Peruvian style restaurant that started out ten years ago in the owner's living room. In fact, the owners moved out the sofas to put in the tables and chairs. The specialty of the house is parihuela, a Peruvian seafood stew, and most of the dishes are prepared with a home-brewed chicha de jora, fermented corn beer, which customers also like to drink. They also serve ceviche, as you can see in the video.
Finally, the video moves to Café Tostado, literally Toasted Coffee, specializing in another soupy stew, sancochado. Why the name? In a previous life, the locale had been a coffee toasting establishment. Owner Pepe Yufra began his business when, after selling his home-made sancochado to his co-workers, they told him he needed to open up his own place.
There's a great line around this time on the video: it says that while these places aren't five-star restaurants, there are manos santas, holy hands, that cook in them.
And, of course, the final line is typically Peruvian: ¡¡A comerrrr!!! ... Let's eat!!
At the end of the video, there is about a minute (from 06:38 onwards) of Magaly Medina giving her personal spin on these huariques. I would just click off at that point.
¡¡A comerrrr!!!
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
A papa rellena is a stuffed potato.
In Peru, in the late afternoon, papa rellena stands sprout on streetcorners. I love the taste of a crispy potato stuffed with seasoned meat, raisins, and egg. There are variations of papa rellenas all over Latin America. I don't know if raisins appear in other versions, but to me they hint of an Arab influence, via Spain.
We've posted a video recipe for papa rellena here. And now, at 4 Kids 'n Us, they've posted the Disney recipe of papa rellena (with a roasted corn relish, which is definitely NOT the traditional topping!) Yes, I said the Disney version --- apparently prepared at a Disney International Food Festival.
I can't vouch for the recipe, but it's worth a look. Of course, the quality of the potatoes is what makes the difference.
To see the recipe, click here.
Peruvian food seems to be everywhere these days. On The Blogs is a feature here at Peru Food in which I comment and link to what other bloggers are writing and posting about Peruvian food.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
El Bolivariano is a well-known restaurant located in a former convent building in the Pueblo Libre district of Lima, just around the corner from the Antigua Taberna Queirolo (which I write about here) and a stone's throw from the National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru.
What I like most about the historic center of Pueblo Libre is it feels very much like a small village in the midst of the big city. There is a pleasant central plaza in which to stroll, quaint buildings, and at least two great options for Peruvian food.
El Bolivariano is famous for its Sunday buffets, offering a wide selection of Peruvian food at a reasonable price and with a family atmosphere. We went on a weekday and were impressed with the food and the attentive service.
Unfortunately, the day we visited we had already started our Peruvian food adventure at the Antigua Taberna Queirolo where we had eaten a number of appetizers; so, by the time we got to El Bolivariano, we didn't have room for much more. Still, we managed to sample their anticuchos, those tasty bits of beef heart heaven, and a mazamorra morada, a sweet pudding made from Peruvian purple corn. We had no complaints.
We particularly liked El Bolivariano's historic feel. The original part of the building, belonging to the local parish church, was constructed in 1780 and was known as La Huerta del Convento, The Convent Garden. At the time, Pueblo Libre was called Magdalena Vieja and was an area of productive farmlands.
The parish eventually sold the property in the late 1800s, and it was bought and sold various times before the current owners purchased it and transformed it into a restaurant. The name alludes to the fact Simón Bolívar, one of Peru's independence heroes, lived in Pueblo Libre, precisely in the colonial home facing the plaza where the National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru is housed.
We left El Bolivariano stuffed and hoping to return one future Sunday so we could sample the buffet everyone told us about. On weekdays, the restaurant offers à la carte dining as well as several prix fixe meals, known in Peru as menu.
The map below indicates El Bolivariano's location, as well as that of the Antigua Taberna Queirolo, the National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru, and the María Magdelena church, the original parish church mentioned above. Pueblo Libre's other museum, the extraordinary Museo Larco is not that far away.
El Bolivariano
Pasaje Santa Rosa 291
Pueblo Libre, Lima
Phone: 261-9565
Website: El Bolivariano
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
Bonaire is a speck of an island in the Netherland Antilles, and thanks to Kathy at her blog, Gluten-Free Kathy's Weblog, we've learned of a new Peruvian restaurant, Plazita Limeña, which she visited during a recent trip.
Her blog is for those who "are wondering how to live an active life and get strong while on the gluten free diet". She also writes about eating quinoa.
Read her post about Plazita Limeña here, and her post about quinoa here.
Update: Thanks to Kathy for the address and phone number for this restaurant.
Plazita Limeña
Kaya Grandi 6
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Phone: 599-717-7667
Peruvian food seems to be everywhere these days. On The Blogs is a feature here at Peru Food in which I comment and link to what other bloggers are writing and posting about Peruvian food.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
Peru loves its emblematic cocktail so much the Peruvian government has declared the first Saturday in February Día Nacional del Pisco Sour, National Pisco Sour Day.
This year, the Pisco Sour Day falls on February 2.
According to José Antonio Schiaffino in his book, The Origin of the Pisco Sour, this drink was invented in the Morris Bar, which operated between 1915 and 1933 in Lima.
Curiously, the owner of the bar was a fellow Californian, Victor Morris, who first made a variation of the whisky sour using Peruvian pisco.
Eloy Cuadros, barman summa cum laude at Lima's historic Hotel Maury, tells us that after Morris invented the pisco sour the Maury perfected it.
The fact is while the Morris is no longer around the Maury still is and it expects to sell close to four thousand pisco sours on February 2.
Pisco sour celebrations will be going on all over Peru on February 2.
In Lima's bohemian district of Barranco, thousands of people are expected to congregate to celebrate this quintessentially Peruvian cocktail. In the southern Peruvian city of Tacna, there will be a pisco sour making competition. In Lima's Jesús María district, another huge pisco sour festival will be held, as well as in Lima's Surco district.
In Ica, where the majority of Peruvian pisco is distilled, there will also be a pisco sour festival. And, in Trujillo, in northern Peru, the pisco sour festival has been going on since early Friday.
Whenever I arrive in Lima, I always head straight to the Café Haiti in Miraflores to have a pisco sour (or two) in celebration of my arrival.
A country that dedicates a day to celebrating a cocktail can't be all that bad, can it?
I love the Pisco Sour: Not For Beginners marketing campaign. Pisco KO'd the Scotsman and his whisky, the Mexican and his tequila, and the Russian and his vodka...LOL!
The text reads: "Lime and the finest Pisco from Peru, blended following the traditional recipe of the ancient Peruvians, brings to life an intense flavour experience. Enjoy it. Carefully."
We've written a bit about pisco, and pisco sours, here at Peru Food: we told you how pisco is made, we linked a video on the role of pisco in Peruvian history, we shared a number of recipes for making pisco sours, including the easiest-ever illustrated pisco sour recipe from Japan. And, last year, we also celebrated pisco sour day.
So, if you have nothing else to do on Saturday, February 2, at the least, you should have a pisco sour.
Happy Pisco Sour Day!
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
Some of you know who have been long-time readers of this humble blog know that now and again I get into a writing slump. There is always material, but sometimes the vicissitudes of life interfere, and I find myself posting less than I'd like.
Then, I'll get a comment or an e-mail from an anonymous person, somewhere in the world, who connects with me through this blog.
Perhaps I'm feeling reflective because we just celebrated our two year anniversary here at Peru Food.
Those comments or e-mails I mention make me feel (as I've said time and again) that Peru Food has become larger than me; Peru Food has become its own entity.
Recently, I got some comments and e-mails that illustrate this point.
One comment was from Angel, a Peruvian living in Badajoz, Spain:
...no sabe de la alegria y del orgullo de ser peruano y estar en España mirando por internet (ventana al mundo) ese delicioso concentrado de cangrejo ... hecho por Doña Aida Cerreños Vasquez de Taype ... mi abuelita querida...
...you don't know the happiness and pride I felt of being a Peruvian living in Spain, when via the Internet (the window to the world) I saw that delicious crab concentrate ... made by Doña Aida Cerreños Vasquez de Taype ... my beloved granny...
I also recently received this e-mail from Cape Town:
...muy impresionante el web page de La Cocina Peruana, felicitaciones. Soy un peruano residente en South Africa, 17 años, extraño el turrón y los alfajores...
...your Peruvian food page is impressive, congratulations. I am a Peruvian who's been living in South Africa for the past 17 years, and I miss turrón and alfajores...
Sometimes, e-mails like this one appear in my inbox:
Hi, my name is ... and I am in grade nine geography. We have a project which details that we need to make a recipe for quite a few people from Peru. I was curious if you would have any suggestions on an easy to make recipe that can also be served in small portions to a number of people. Thank you for any help you can send to me.
All of these e-mails, comments, and questions, remind me: Peru Food matters.
Peru.Food@gmail.com
.
.
.
A peanut hull discovered in Northern Peru has been dated to 7600 B.P.
A cotton ball discovered in Northern Peru dated to 5500 B.P.
