Traveling to Peru: Feasting on the Culture

Peru offers a wide array of food, and in Lima you find a large variety of tastes. Foods are prepared in different methods depending on the area and class system. You can have the same dish at twenty different places and each would have its own unique flavors.

Popular Dishes:

Cuy

This is a delicacy in Peru; and is one of the most popular dishes. Cuy is guinea pig, friend or roasted and served with rice and potatoes. At most restaurants you can even pick out what guinea pig you want!

Lomo Saltado

This is a classic. Lean cuts of beef in a vegetable stir fry served over rice and french-fries and, in some places, topped with an egg. Although the combination of French fries and rice sounds strange the combination is tasteful.

Llama and Alpaca

This meat is one of my favorites. It has the same tenderness as lamb, and is served with vegetables and rice.  In some places, you can find thin cuts of raw alpaca covered in a lemon-lime mixture.

Anticuchos

This is cow heart, slowly grilled to perfection. The first time I ate this it was delicious… until my father told me what it was. It became less and less appealing the more I thought about it. Going back to Peru the second time when I was older,  I found the dish to be perfection.

Sea Food

Lima offers a full array of sea food, including octopus and squid! These dishes are served in a variety of ways. My favorite is the sea food pasta; a variety of shrimp, clam, scallops, fish and other sea food served on top a bed of fettuccini noodles with a white wine sauce. Ceviche, raw fish marinated in a lemon-lime juice is another local favorite and delicacy.

 

When touring the Lima (or any of Peru's cities) make sure you take care not to eat foods that could put you at risk of getting a disease or becoming sick. After three years, here is my list of pointers when it comes to food:

 

• Do not eat salads unless you are at a high end establishment. Most places do not clean their produce when serving it raw, and unless you are accustom to the bacteria, it can make you sick.
• Do not drink the water from public fountains. Instead by bottled water. In some areas of Peru you should not buy water at restaurants even if it is in a bottle. Many places will take bottles and refill them to give to customers. It is safer to go with a soda, or a juice.
• Do not eat fruit that has not been washed, unless cooked.  The bacteria found of vegetables and fruit can make you sick.
• Do not eat mayonnaise from vendors. These vendors do not have proper refrigeration and often food is left out, or in rare cases a cooler. Mayonnaise can easily go bad if kept at room temperature and contains ingredients that can make you sick. This is especially true as most mayonnaise you will encounter at a street vendor will be home made.
• Be careful when eating meat, especially from venders- you can get food poisoning or bacteria like e-coli from spoiled or undercooked meat. Eating meat or fish that has been sitting in a lemon-lime mixture is less likely to cause infection or make you sick.

Be open to trying new things! I have had many experiences where I have not wanted to eat something, and then discovered I really liked what I was trying. In Peru there are a lot of new things to try from ceviche to grilled banana. You don't have to try everything, but try a few new things on your trip. This is an adventure after all!