A Culinary Update

An update on one of my favorite topics, comida!

I’ve added a new food to my list, and please don’t judge me. It’s Alpaca. Down in southern Peru, Alpaca meat is a very popular dish. I was a bit skeptical but my mom ordered it three times and I was impressed with each different rendition! Mmm, mmm! Too bad they don’t sell it up here in northern Perú.

However, the ceviche up here is much better than in the south. I am definitely hooked on the ceviche made from pescado - fish (though I cannot attest to the kind made with mariscos - shellfish). Here they serve ceviche adorned with hard corn kernels, and sides of sweet potato and choclo (giant sweet corn). It is pretty amazing, and Peruvians claim it’s the perfect cure for the rasaca (hang-over)!

In southern Peru they sell choclo con queso- an ear of corn with a side chunk of white cheese – also at the top of my list.

I’ve become braver with the street foods. The hamburguesas here are terrifying - yet delicious at the same time. They usually consist of a hamburger patty (thin, strange looking unidentified meat), strips of pink hot dog, a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, ketchup, aji, mayonnaise, and French fries all in between two buns!

Picarones remain one of my favorite desserts – a sweet sticky deep-fried sweet potato goodness, especially amazing after an afternoon of surfing! (Or just on the walk home from work).

I finally tried raspadillas – crushed ice with different natural fruit syrups poured atop. Great summer drink, but I still remain impartial to my marcianos – fruit and milk frozen and sold in a small plastic bag.

I remain very terca – stubborn – in regards to the patitas - fried chicken feet. They say it works wonders for preventing hair loss, but I just can’t bring myself to do it! (But- the bright pink hot dogs are growing on me).

However, my usual meals tend to be pretty simple –a typical lunch meal of white rice, beets, carrots, and potatoes – served with chicken. I thought I'd be sick of white rice by now, but I think my body is adapting - If I go more than a day without it, I get intense cravings for plain white rice!

And of course, no meal is complete without some type of aji – a (spicy) liquid concentrate of some type of pepper. As a whole, I'm continuing to discover lots of foods I love - it will certainly be hard to leave the Peruvian food (not to mention Peruvian people) at the end of my time here.
Buen provecho!