I am a big time foodie, and I’m a little worried about what ingredients/spices are available in Lima. I love to cook different curries, vindaloo, mediterranean, chinese…well pretty much anything ethnic. Are spices like turmeric, tandoori seasoning, Indian chili powder, etc. available there, or am I going to have to stock pile before I move.

Oh, and Emily, shame on you for insulting your new home cuisine. hehehe

Even Andean women who are a bit broad in the beam are way skinnier than the average woman in the U.S. these days.

The guys, on the other hand, are all small / thin [mostly strong].

The native American women / men seem to follow these same body type. I’ve heard it was something to do with the ability to store [ fat] calories for lean times but due to ‘modern’ junk food with lots of fat etc, they store more than they need [ for those hard long winters of the distant past].

The comment about the “white lady” and her maid also made me think about the link between having maids and eating fresh food. Below you will find a few thoughts that may be helpful to understand Peruvian middle class society a little better:

Why do people in the US eat processed food instead of fresh food? I believe, in most cases, there are two main reasons: 1) price (and/or availability), and 2) time. Between work, kids, cleaning up the house, washing clothes, shopping, running errands, etc., there is little energy and time left to cook something from scratch.

Here in Peru, usually both spouses work. Companies here have little respect for working hours, thus most of the people work extra hours without being paid for it. The math is quite simple: cheap fresh food + affordable maids + no time = food made from scratch by your maid every day. If it weren’t for the maids, I believe we would eat a lot more ready-made meals or take -away.

On another subject, you shouldn’t fear that Peru will eventually succumb to US franchises. It will never happen. KFC and Pizza Hut have been here for almost 25 years. Burger King, 15 years. McDonalds, around 10. None of them have had a real impact on our eating habits. They are far more expensive than a cheap restaurant ‘menu’, and we are aware that their quality standards are crap.

Taco Bell and Subway shut down shortly after opening. The former was just plain rubbish. We have way better tacos (try La Super Rueda in Miraflores). The latter couldn’t sell us the idea of ‘expensive’ fresh food. We can make a sandwich better than that for nothing.

Bembo’s is stronger than ever. Also, there are new Peruvian food franchises every day. No Peruvian would trade a ‘sanguchón’ for a Big Mac. Never.

Pizza has always been here. There was a flood of Italian immigration between the late XIX and early XX centuries (that’s why so many Peruvians from the coast have Italian last names). As a kid, I went to pizzerias with my family years before Pizza Hut opened its first restaurant.

Just my two cents.

Poor Emily. I knew she’d be roasted alive!

Emily, you have to find the “crossover” dishes, the ones that bear a resemblance to American food (like aji de gallina) and work your way slowly to the hardcore Peruvian dishes, like cuy. Along the way, if you’re a meateater you can sample some of the great Argentine beef that’s served here, which is way better than the US kind.

[and the food here is unbelievably disgusting….maybe Im not used to it]

[but I think this food is bland]…now, really….. Where are you? Definitely not in Peru, right?

Yes, choclo con queso rules!

I do like good fries now and then though.

Know what gets me here (USA)? The obsession with losing weight, the ton of processed “reduced fat, sugar-free” foods.