For the foodies
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2004
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40
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Trip End
Nov 23, 2006
Arequipa,
Peru
Friday, June 10, 2005
I thought I'd supplement for those who are interested.
When we were in the Colca Guido kept pointing out the tuna
cactus from which fruit is commonly eaten. As soon as we found
someone selling them on the street I was in. They come in three
colours but off the same cactus (green, orangey-yellow and red). The
seller peels them for you with a lethal looking blade in about two
seconds. The green ones taste like honeydew melon, the yellow ones
like a combination "tropical" fruit with high tones of passionfruit
and mango. I haven't found a red one yet.
We also bought a lucuma from the market (called natural
marmalade here and borne by sapotaceous trees). This is small,
squishy, the colour of an avocado on the outside and a pumpkin on the
inside - it came highly recommended. It was revolting - like eating
cold, over-cooked, overly sweet, pumpkin. However, mix it with
yoghurt and it's like drinking custard.
We spent some time at a traditional restuarant called Sonccollay.
They cook and serve everything in ceramic or on hot rocks
and everything is eaten with wooden utensils or your hands. They
are very proud of maintaining the Incan traditions and will show
you their kitchen and cooking methods at the drop of a napkin. The
food contains no oil, onions or garlic which were all introduced by
the Spaniards.
Our first experience here was for a very, very leisurely lunch.
We were invited up onto the roof to see some of the most
magnificient views of the central plaza and the surrounding
mountains. Then a guided tour of the kitchen. They indulgently
waited for me to take too many photos of cool stuff and answer damn
fool questions about everything.
We then opted for black corn beer. This tastes like slightly
yeasty Ribenna and is only mildly alcoholic. It is permanently
chilled in ceramic mugs the size of buckets. This helped wash down
the dried alpaca meat and dried potato stew. The meat once
rehydrated is very tender and the frost dried potatos taste like
very thick, slightly soggy, potato crisps. They were the best bit
actually. The salting process to dry the meat makes for a very salty
stew with little added but the meat juices and the starch from the
potatos.
That night I dined on traditional guinea pig (cuy). David opted
for the trout because you can't get it in New Zealand and he thinks
it's very good. I think it's a bit muddy actually. Anyway, cuy is
not a meal for the sqeamish or those who prefer meat to come shrink
wrapped and not obviously off a dead animal. They split the cuy
along the belly from tail to lower jaw, leave in the kidneys and
liver, and then serve the lot flattened. Mine was coated in corn
meal and deep fried (which is not traditional - it should be
sandwiched between two hot rocks and baked). You get the whole thing
laid out on the plate complete with teeny, tiny little splayed legs
ending in tortured little paws and crispy, perky little ears. The
waiter seemed surprised that (1) the girl had ordered it and (2) I
didn't want the head cut off to calm my sensibilities - I hate guinea
pigs, always have. There is not a lot of eating on a guinea pig and
mine wasn'tcooked properly. I managed to eat the little
hindquarters - tastes like a cross between rabbit and chicken.
The salad wasn't safe (because of the water) so for NZD 17.50 I got
afoodie experience, three bites of meat and a potato.
The second day we returned to Sonccollay for a more substantial lunch
(lunch is the main meal in Peru although dinner isn't exactly shabby).
The alpaca hind leg is roasted over (and served on)
hot stones accompanied by a salad of avocado (you would not believe
how good the avocados are in South America), toasted maize,
a selection of fresh, frost dried, sun dried and sweet potatos,
including black potatos, yellow and purple striped ones and ones
like kumara but more so and the colour of pumpkin. According to the
restaurant owner alpaca is exceptionally low in fat (0.5%) and very
high in protein(25%). The chilli peppers were stuffed with river
shrimps, papaya,passionfruit juice and
rehydrated potatoes. It was hot and salty and not as sweet as
the other ingredients might suggest. It was served on a bed of
boiled yucca. We washed it down with black corn beer which I managed
to drool on myself in front of the restaurant owner. This is
apparently good luck and demanded everyone in the restaurant
(fortunately only two others) be dragged over to the stone altar for
a ritual ofthanks giving to Pachumama. Part of my brain was quite
honoured thathe was sharing an ancient ritual with me but the
cynical Calvinist part wasn't completely convinced he wasn't mak
ing fun of the ignorant gringos.
Now you have a better understanding of the food in Peru. I feel
my work here is done and will move on to other (non-foodie)
experiences.
