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Peru’s Answer to Jewish Penicillin: Chilcano de Pescado
Chilcano de pescado, as made by Gaston Acurio I need my Jewish chicken-noodle soup in the wintertime. I grew up on the U.S. East Coast, where delis and diners and Jewish moms cook up barrels of this fragrant, healing soup all year long. Then I moved to Miami where at gourmet delis like Epicure, you can buy big jars of delicious matzoh-ball soup that will cure you overnight of colds, bronchitis, pneumonia. I’ve been restored from the Dead with homemade chicken soup glistening with beads of kosher chicken fat. Then, a year and a half ago, I moved to Peru where there are like, 3,000 Jews in the entire country and no…
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El Corazón Es Un Músculo (The Heart Is a Muscle)
I used to think that France was the most food-obsessed nation on earth. Then I moved to Peru. Life halts twice a day in France for the gastronomic liturgies of le déjeuner and le dîner. Then the French people refold their napkins and return to the all-consuming business of being French: ie., being frighteningly exact about money, arguing about philosophy and literature, and dressing better than everyone else except the Italians. Here in Peru, however, food consciousness–preparing, eating, talking, thinking about food–goes on 24/7. Peruvians discuss food with a singular intensity and concentration — and I mean all Peruvians, all the time. I sometimes believe that you could wake a Peruvian from a dead sleep, and in less than two minutes…
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Like Your Ice Cream Spicy Hot? Peruvian Flavors Challenge Taste Buds
The odd blend of flavors exploded on my tongue: Sweet strawberry and hot jalapeno. Yikes! Welcome to ice cream in the Land of the Inca, where jaded taste buds are courted by unusual and sometimes explosive flavor combinations. The ice cream that sent me running for ice water a few days ago was a neon-orange product called Sin Parar Hot (“Non Stop Hot”). It’s a cup of highly sweetened strawberry ice cream spiked with spicy flavor bombs — a weird combination that Nestle/D’Onofrio dreamed up to appeal to kids and teens. El Híjo was introduced to it by his 24-year-old cousin, who has a weak spot for Dunkin Donuts and trendy…
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Still Time to Vote for Your 7 Favorite Peruvian Dishes
Picante de cuy, one of 100 dishes vying for the title of “Gastronomic Wonder of Peru” The official website states that the first round of voting ended February 15, but evidently you can still cast your vote online for the Seven Gastronomical Wonders of Peru. There are serious choices to be made among the 100 contenders. This weekend I learned that my 26-year-old nephew had voted for, among other dishes, picante de cuy. I hadn’t pegged him as a cuy guy, but he assured me that spicy roasted guinea pig really is one of his favorites. Now that I’ve read the description on the 7 Maravillas site, I’m rather speechless: The palate…
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Calientito! Peruvian Food Trend Heats Up in 2009
Innovative octopus causa from Andina Restaurant, in Portland, Oregon Looks like Epicurious was spot on in predicting that Peruvian would become the hot food trend of 2009. Bon Appétit magazine named Lima the Next Great Food City in its January ’09 issue. Writer Daniel Duane hangs out with Gaston Acurio for a day, eating his way through some of Lima’s top restaurants, including Malabar, Toshiro’s Sushi Bar and La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, and concludes that Peruvian food ranks with the best: Want a new fusion cuisine sourced from the world’s best ingredients? Star chefs with personalities as big as their palates? A good exchange rate for the dollar? Welcome to Peru’s capital city, the next…
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Vote for the 7 Gastronomic Wonders of Peru
Peru has discovered the marketing power of the voter-powered “Best of” list. The trend began in 2007 when a global poll of 100 million voters chose Machu Picchu as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The prestige and tourism revenues generated by that honor inspired Peru to mount its own contest to name the 7 Wonders of Peru. Winning sites include the Inca baths of Cajamarca, Colca Canyon and the Kuelap Fortress in the Amazon. (Given its status as a World Wonder, Machu Picchu was not eligible for nomination.) Now a group called Acidoungusto Comunicaciones is sponsoring an online poll to determine the Seven Gastronomic Wonders of Peru (las 7 maravillas…
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Peru Rules OK to Drink on the Job
The Lima-based Reuters crew just filed this tipico Peru story about a strange court ruling. A judge on Peru’s top court has ruled that companies cannot fire workers for being drunk on the job. The Peruvian government is fuming about the decision, which it says sets a dangerous precedent. Oy vey! Only in Peru. Here’s the entire news item: LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s top court has ruled that workers cannot be fired for being drunk on the job, a decision that was criticized by the government on Wednesday for setting a dangerous precedent. The Constitutional Tribunal ordered that Pablo Cayo be given his job back as a janitor for the…
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Surquillo Market No. 1
The photo above was taken in Surquillo Market No. 1, in Miraflores. The vendor is arranging her eggplants and tomatoes as the day winds down. Peruvians prefer to prepare their meals from fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than buy canned, frozen or processed foods. Doing so it more economical and tasty, Peruvians agree. As an added bonus, preparing meals from scratch is healthier. Eating healthier foods enables many Peruvians to stay fitter than their U.S. counterparts. According to the World Health Organization, obesity in developed and developing nations is soaring, notes ACAP. An astonishing 74.1% of U.S. citizens over age 15 are classified as overweight. The United States ranks #9…
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Salami Sandwich Man
Deli counter, Wong supermarket, Miraflores; photo c. Barbara Drake 2008 I bought Braendt salami from this guy at Wong supermarket a few nights ago. It wasn’t a lot of salami — maybe 100 grams — but my purchase merited a regalo: half a ham/salami/cheese sandwich on whole-grain bread, with lettuce and tomato. Nice guy, no?
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Panettone Madness
Stacked to the ceiling in Wong supermarket, Lima It is December in Lima; therefore, Christmas is coming; therefore, the city is being overrun by armies of panettone boxes. You may wonder what this Milanese sweet bread is doing in Peru, which does not have a large Italian population. Don’t ask. It’s Peru. Many decades ago, the dessert bread became coupled in the Peruvian imagination with Christmas festivities, and eating gobs of panettone became what one did at Navidad. (Actually, the custom was introduced by Antonio D’Onofrio, the son of immigrants from Caserta, Italy, who licensed the Milanese recipe and packaging and proceeded to build a baking and ice cream empire in Peru, according to Wikipedia.) Peru isn’t…
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Peruvian Cuisine Will Be Top Food Trend of 2009, Bets Epicurious
The accolades for Peruvian food keep rolling in. This time it’s the award-winning food site Epicurious.com that’s predicting Peruvian cuisine will be the hot food trend of the new year. Peruvian is the new Thai: You thought Peruvian cuisine was all about seviche, maybe? Guess again: Peru boasts culinary influences from Spanish, Basque, African, Cantonese, Japanese, Italian, French, and British immigrants. Pisco Sour, anyone? Epicurious editor James Oliver Cury adds, “We think there will be more Peruvian dishes at [U.S.] restaurants and in popular culture. ” (His comment is followed by links to starred Peruvian recipes such as fried yuca with huancaina sauce and ceviche de pescado.) The pronouncement by…
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Peru Food Up Close: Mushrooms and Figs at Surquillo No. 1
Giant porcini mushrooms, figs and blackberries for sale this week at Surquillo Market No. 1, Lima; photo by Barbara Drake My eye was caught by this remarkable fresh produce for sale at the local market in Surquillo. The porcini mushrooms (“hongo funghi”) are enormous. Black figs like those on the bottom are now in season. Blackberries are rare in Peru. Within the next year, the proletariat Mercado No. 1 will undergo a massive renovation. It is being turned into a gastronomical destination by Peruvian superchef Gaston Acurio. The same stands will be selling produce on the ground floor; the second and third floors are being transformed into a food court and…
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Overstressed Americans Binge on Junk Food, Drive up Sales, Cheers Snack Food Industry!
The slow-motion collapse of the U.S. economy is harming consumers and businesses across the country — well, almost every business that is. One industry is enjoying big sales gains thanks to the stress experienced by ordinary working people. North American sales of “savory snacks” (potato chips, Cheetos, etc.) by Frito-Lay are up 9% for the third qurater, reports Potato Pro, “your source for all things potato.” Sales rose despite hikes in gas and ingredient prices and lowered earnings for Americans. (Some companies made up for the higher costs by switching to smaller bags.) Potato Pro jefe Paul van Eijck thinks the trend is only going to accelerate. As the U.S. economy worsens, stressed-out Americans will binge…
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(Not) Trailing Bush at the APEC
The Texas cowbow-turned-El Chalan, APEC Leaders’ Summit, Nov. 23, 2008; photo c. Jorge Vera It was 4 p.m. on the final day of the APEC Summit, and most of the leaders and the journalists had left the Minstry of Defense building where the summit had been held. El Fotógrafo and I were huddled in a cubicle in the International Media Center, trying to identify which Asian leader was which in a photo EF had taken earlier that afternoon. “Is that the president of Thailand? No, Vietnam?” We kept checking with a list of published photos of the leaders, most of which appeared to have been taken when the leaders were younger…
