"Why Peruvian Food is History's Gift to the Modern World"
Peruvian food. Simply the best. But only for the slightly adventurous types who are willing to try tastes that span continents both external and internal to Peru.
Peru is not only made up of various ethnic groups coming from outside its borders (due to the presence of its riches before and during colonial times and its resulting importation of everyone from Spanish, to Chinese, to African, to Italian, from slave to landowner/business owner), but also diverse indigenous groups native to its lands (ranging from coast, to mountains, to jungle regions).
In addition to the respective recipes brought by each ethnic/indigenous group, the Spanish brought onions and pigs, the Chinese and Japanese brought noodles and oils, the Italians thicker noodles, the emigrants from the various African regions brought their particular culinary influences as well. We get cuy (or guinea pig) from the mountain groups, various vegetables and fruits from the jungle, and incredibly fresh and delicious fish from the coast and the coastal groups whose predecessors still use similar preparations to this day.
This variety in both history and tradition, internal and external, brought and still bring many fusions of influences all of which explode to create a modern cuisine on the verge of international prominence that owes almost all of its richness to the peoples and cultures of yesterday.
The first example of this tasteful explosion is the plate of Peru, Lomo Saltado. Literally, Jumping Beef (or its smoothed-out translation of Stir-fried Beef) this plate is a delightful mix of Asian and Andean. Combining ginger, soy sauce, beef broth, rice, and the combination of onions, peppers, and garlic with a stir-fry technique is decidedly Asian influenced. Add the potatoes (which are in the form of french fries) aji peppers, cilantro (or culantro in Peru and other South American countries as well), and sometimes pisco (the grape brandy produced at its best in Peru)and you have the Andean influence. All together, and if done correctly as far as timing goes, the result is one example of the divinity of Peruvian cuisine and a brilliant introduction to its glories.
Another key dish to Peru's arsenal is Papas a la Huancaina (or potatoes Huancayan style) Named after the large and, in many parts, beautiful central Peruvian city of Huancayo, this dish serves as an example of the intra-Peruvian culinary connection resulting from the "verticality" principle of its trade routes. Given the ominous and often shocking reality of the Andes mountains smack-dab through the center of Peru, the regions from the coast to the interior jungle have an uncompromising and unyielding physical impediment that has created a stunt to latitudinal travel for traveler and trader alike for several hundred years. In spite of this difficulty, the genius of pre-colombian inhabitants conceived of and produced a series of east to west trade routes (coast-to-mountains, and mountains-to-jungle, and vice versa) of which yielded an eventual smooth flow of food exchange. An exchange which is viewable and edible in our present dish of discussion. At its base, cabbage or lettuce, a product of the coast and/or in-between mountains. Then comes sliced potatoes, a product of the mountains. After that, the excitement of the plate, the Huancaina sauce, a mix of both mountains and coast. Usually composed of onions (both geo-regions), yellow peppers (also both), traditional cheese (queso fresco, also both), and milk (wherever cows are!), this zesty and slightly spicy hot sauce lends a perfect addition to the bland afore-mentioned base. To top it all off, a few olives (kalamata-like Peruvian olives), hard-boiled egg halves, a chunk of the same type of cheese mentioned before, and a few slivers of aji peppers, the best of which are found in Peru. Thanks to this vertical interchange between coast and mountains this dish was able to be invented and made. It still dazzles the palates of many hordes of travelers and locals alike often playing an appetizer role.
Other dishes of interest include Aji de Gallina, Pollo a la Brasa, Ceviche, Chicharron, and of course the always talked about Cuy or Guinea Pig, which is quite a delicacy. All of these dishes form fusions between Spanish and Native Peruvian influences and should all be tried with enthusiasm and an intense appreciation for the historical occurrences that have led to their fruition as part of the arsenal of Modern Peruvian Cuisine.
With this brief introduction to Peruvian Cuisine, I hope that your next opportunity to explore this food will be blessed with a deeper understanding of the historical, geographical, and universal elements that have all collided to produce a refreshing and truly exciting Latin Cuisine on the verge of global expansion.
