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Food
Entry 11 of 73 | show all | print this entry |
So, I´ve been meaning to write an entry for a while about all the wonderful Peruvian foods I am enjoying. That entry is going to be slightly different now, seeing as I have gotten sick twice in 2 weeks! So, now although I do love some of the food, I have a different sort of feeling for it, seeing as it needs to be respected, and slightly feared! It´s funny, because part of me was thinking, I wish I was at home, where I could eat whatever I wanted and not have to be scared. And then, after more thought, I realized that I would never eat this stuff at home. I never eat street meat in NYC. But, for some reason it is more intriguing or exciting or something to eat it here. So, I guess it is partially my fault for getting sick, for wanting a bit of adventure and not being overly cautious. For eating food that I wouldn´t dare to touch at home. I´ve never even had a gyro on the street in NYC and yet in Cusco, I´m willing to eat anticucho of cow´s heart on a street corner?
At different points throughout the day in Cusco women (occasionally men, but usually women) appear selling various food. Usually they have a big plastic bag, covered by a blanket, and tons of Peruvians are crowding around to buy their goodies. You never know what it is going to be. I especially like the time around 5:30 because the sidewalks become crowded by these women as people stop for food, usually little snacks, on their way home from work. I like the foods at dusk better than other food throughout the day. I have not been brave enough yet to buy soup or chicken and rice out of a big plastic bag, which is usually sold at lunch time. However, the locals do. A woman will have a big pot inside of a big bag, one or two place settings, and a bucket of water. Someone will stop, have a plate of food and then the woman will wash the place setting in the dirtyish looking water to get ready for the next person.
But the foods at dusk are entirely different. Things like tamales (sweet or salty), empanadas, anticucho (meat on a stick-the women have grills set up for this), papa rellenos (stuffed potatos) and rocota rellenos (stuffed peppers). There is a woman on my street who fries up fish over a huge open flame every evening starting aroudn 6. It never looks or smells very good to me but plenty of people stop for some. I don´t quite understand it all because some of the foods are very fresh looking, while others are not. The tamales usually come out of the bag and are warm, whereas the empanadas are cold and usually appear to be sitting out for a while (I´m convinced that it was an empanada that got me sick and had me in bed for 48 hours and therefore will not be eating them off the street again.) The anticucho smells wonderful. It did take me a while to try it but the aroma was to inticing and a friend of mine stopped for one so I couldn´t resist. Although I don´t think cow´s heart is my favorite food, it wasn´t bad. Definitely better than liver or foie gras!
Another place to go for delicious food is the market. There are stands set up where ladies make fresh juice. There are usually two stools in front of the stand and you sit and watch while your juice is being made in front of your eyes. No juice to go here. You drink it out of a glass (which is then washed in some brackish looking water...just don´t watch that part) while you sit at the stand. I had a lovely conversation with the lady who made mine. She even complimented my Spanish, which always makes me feel good! Jamba Juice has nothing on them! All fruit. No ice, yogurt, milk, ´boosters.´ Just the freshest most delicous fruit. For 3 soles ($1) I had 2 huge cups of fresh ´jugo mixto´ with carrot, apple, pineapple, orange, papaya, and fruits I don´t even recognize. I only wanted 1 cup but they give you everything in the blender. There was actually some left after my 2 cups but I was too full to finish.
My absolute favorite food here is ´choclo´ which can be enoyed for 1.5 soles (50 cents). (You can get a slice of cheese to go with it for another .5 soles.) ´Choclo´ is corn on the cob, but not like any corn on the cob that we have at home. The kernels are HUGE. You can pull them off and enjoy each kernel individually. I love walking around, looking at the wares for sale in the market while enjoying my choclo. Once I leave the market and walk a few blocks, I usually have just finished my corn when I arrive at another of my favorite places...a little window where an old lady sells churros. You can watch her make them and fry them, and then she rolls it around in sugar when you order it. They are the perfect dessert (although I probably shouldn´t eat them because I´m assuming something that good must have milk in it however, as there is no ingredients listing I cannot be sure!)
There is other food that I have enjoyed at home, which is one of the benefits of staying with a host family. Aji de Gallina-some kind of chicken in a peanut sauce. Unfortunately this definitely has milk in it and so I only eat it when my host mother makes it specially for me without milk. Another favorite of mine is Causa, which is layers of potato, avacodo, and hard boiled egg. Again, this has to be enjoyed at home because restaurants usually layer cheese into it. They have hundreds of different kinds of potatoes in Peru and I have enjoyed many of them. Some poeple might find it a bit much to be served potatoes as an appetizer and then potatoes as a main course, with rice of course, for lunch, but I absolutely love it!
Although I have enjoyed this food, there are a few things I miss from home. I would love a bagel with lox and (tofu) cream cheese. Also, there are times when I would love a cold beverage. At lunch the other day my host mother brought out a pitcher full of some delicous looking juice. She asked one of her daughters to get out glasses for the ´refresco´. They passed me a glass and I took a sip of a almost hot juice. That is not a refresco! My host brother went to the store one day and managed to buy a bottle of cold coke. My host father asked him to heat his up in the microwave! I just don´t understand it! I don´t mind my water luke warm, but to go out of my way to heat up my coke...that´s just bizarre to me. And I would LOVE a nice big salad. There are a few places where I know people who have eaten them and swear they are safe but I am still scared!
Latest Comments (1)
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Food (reply)
Sep 5, 2008 15:06 EST by llapovsky
Courtenay -
This doesn't sound like you at all. What fun. I am so very glad that you are experimenting with food. I think you are braver than Dad and me. Keep trying things.
Mom
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