Food & Drink

Peru is a country that holds not just a variety of ethnic mixes since times ranging from the Inca Empire, the Viceroyalty and the Republic, but also a climatic variety that consists of 28 of a possible 32 world climates. The mixing of cultures and the variety of climates differ from city to city, with the geography, climate, culture and ethnic mix determining the variety of local cuisine.

Hot pepper (aji) and garlic (ajo) flavour most Peruvian food. Typical dishes include chupe de carnarones (a soup made from shrimps, eggs, cream, potatoes and peppers), sopa criolla (spicy soup with beef and noodles) and wnticuchos (beef or fish marinated in vinegar and spices, then barbecued).

Regional Differences

The Coast

The cuisine of the coast can be said to have four strong influences: Moorish, African, Chinese and local native.

The Pacific Ocean is the principal source of aquatic resources for Peru. Every coastal region, being distinct in flora and fauna populations, adapts its cuisine in accordance to the resources available in its waters.

Ceviche (also known as cebiche or seviche) is a form of citrus marinated seafood salad that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru and is found in almost all Peruvian restaurants. Its many different variations (pure, combination, or mixed with fish and shellfish) is a good example of this regional adaptation.

The chupe de camarones (shrimp cioppino) is one of the most popular dishes of Peruvian coastal cuisine. It is made from a thick freshwater shrimp (crayfish) stock soup, potatoes, milk and chilli pepper.

Lima and Central Coast

A centre of immigration and centres of the Spanish viceroyalty, Lima and Trujillo have incorporated unique dishes brought from the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors and the receiving of many waves of immigrants: African, European, Chinese, and Japanese. International immigration and a strong internal flow from rural areas to cities has strongly influenced Lima's cuisine with the incorporation of the immigrant's ingredients and techniques (for example, the Chinese extensive use of rice or the Japanese approach to preparing raw fish).

Creole cuisine is the most widespread in this cosmopolitan city. Some international cuisines with a large presence include Chinese (known locally as Chifa) and Italian. The city's ubiquitous bakeries are another culinary treasure.

Anticuchos are brochettes made from a beef heart marinated in a various Peruvian spices and grilled, often served with boiled potatoes and corn. They are commonly sold by street vendors and served shish kabob-style, although they may also be found in Creole food restaurants.

Also frequently sold by street vendors are tamales: boiled corn with meat or cheese and wrapped in a banana leaf. They are similar to humitas, which consist of corn mixed with spices, sugar, onions, filled with pork and olives and finally wrapped in the leaves of corn husks. Tamales are a common breakfast food, often served with 'Salsa Criolla..

Another favourite food to be found in many restaurants is Papas a la huancaína (Huancayo-style potatoes), a dish consisting of sliced boiled potatoes, served on a bed of lettuce with a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives. Originating in Huancayo, it is now popular throughout most of Peru.

Ceviche is the flagship dish of coastal cuisine, and is the quintessence of fusion: Andean chili peppers, onions and acidic aromatic lime. A spicy dish, it consists generally of bite-size pieces of white fish (such as corvina or white sea bass), marinated raw in lime or lemon juice mixed with chillies. Ceviche is served with raw onions, boiled sweet potatoes (camote), toasted corn (cancha), and sometimes a local green seaweed yuyo. Leche de tigre (tiger's milk), is the Peruvian colloquial name for the juice produced from the ingredients of ceviche.

Tiradito is the younger brother of ceviche, and shows more clearly the influence that Japanese cooks have had in Peru's seafood cuisine (though some suggest that it's closer to Italian carpaccio, popularized by Genovese immigrants). The fish is sliced in fine strips (about 6 cm by 2 cm) that are similar to sashimi, and then marinated in a mix of lime juice, ginger and ají limo. Unlike ceviche, tiradito lacks onions, which translates into a subtler taste.

Other dishes from the southern coast include:

• Papa rellena (stuffed potato) - mashed potatoes stuffed with ground (minced) meat, eggs, olives and various spices and then deep fried.
• Sancochado - A hearty beef and vegetable stew thaT includes yuca (cassava) and camotes (sweet potatoes).
• Lomo saltado, sliced beef (if made from the tenderloin it is 'lomo fino') sautéed with onion, tomato, soy sauce, vinegar, chili (aji) and served or mixed with French fried potatoes and accompanied with rice.
• Arroz con pollo, or rice with chicken, is enjoyed for its rich-flavoured rice combined with chicken.
• Lima butter bean (pallares) salad - a salad made with Peruvian Lima butter beans, boiled (but still whole) and mixed (when cooled) with a 'salsa' of onions, slices of tomatoes, and green ají (chili), marinated in green Peruvian lime juice, oil, salt, and vinegar.
• Butifarras - a sandwich in a hamburger-type bread roll and consisting of Peruvian ham with a special spicy sauce.
• Causa - a mashed yellow potato dumpling mixed with lemon, onion, chilli and oil. Varieties can have avocado, chicken, tuna (typically canned) or even shellfish added to the mixture.
• Carapulcra - an appetising stewed dish of pork and chicken, dried potatoes, red chillies, peanuts and cumin. The version from the Afro-Peruvian Ica region uses fresh potatoes.
• Empanadas peruanas (Peruvian pastries/meat pies) - these may be filled with chicken, beef, cheese or be strictly vegetarian. They have a unique taste due to the addition of olives and sometimes hard boiled eggs and raisins.
• Ají de gallina (chili chicken) - thin strips of chicken served with a creamy yellow and spicy sauce, made with ají amarillo (yellow chillies), cheese, milk, bread, and walnuts.
• Escabeche criollo (pickled fish) - escabeche dishes rely on the heavy use of vinegar and onions together with other spices and chilli.
• Cau cau - a meal consisting of mondongo or tripe stew and accompanied by rice.
• Chicharrones - a dish consisting of deep-fried and heavily salted pork.

The Northern Coast

The cuisine of the northern coast offers a difference in style from the central and southern varieties. This is not only due to the coastal native Indian influence (less Andean), the Moorish and Spanish influence, the African and the Gypsy influence (Hindustani); but also to the warmer coastal seas and hotter climate.

Seco de Cabrito - goat stew (which may be substituted by lamb, chicken or beef) that has been marinated with chicha de jora or beer and other spices including fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) and garlic. This is most popular in the northern coast especially in Cajamarca and Lambayeque.

Cebiche de Conchas Negras (ceviche with black shells) - a dish of Piura and Tumbes and also popular along the southern coast of Ecuador. In this version of ceviche, the seafood used in the dish should be black clams accompanied by popcorn and/or toasted corn.

The Andes

In the valleys and plains of the Andes, the locals' diet continues to be based on corn (maize), potatoes, and an assortment of tubers as it has been for many hundreds of years. Meat comes from indigenous animals such as alpacas and guinea pigs, but also from imported livestock like sheep and swine.

As with many rural cultures, most of the more elaborate dishes were reserved for festivities, while daily meals were simple affairs. Nowadays, the festive dishes are consumed every day, although they tend to be on the heavy side and demand a large appetite.

The pachamanca is a very special banquet made from a variety of meats (including pork and beef), herbs and a variety of vegetables that are slowly cooked underground on a bed of heated stones. It demands skilful cooks to create and a large number of guests to consume. Because of its tedious preparation it is normally only prepared for celebrations or festivals in the Andes, though recent years have seen the appearance of many 'campestre' restaurants outside Lima where urban families can escape to spend an afternoon in the fresh air eating pachamanca.

Andean cooking's main freshwater fish is the trout, raised in fisheries in the region. Currently, ostrich meat is being raised from farms in Arequipa, although its consumption is not widespread and limited to urban areas.

Typical dishes include:

• Cuy chactado - fried guinea pig. Often the indigenous women of the Peruvian Andes will raise the guinea pigs in their huts where they run around loose on the floors of the dwellings. Prior to consumption they can reach a surprisingly large size.
• Olluquito con charqui - a stew of finely diced ollucos (a yellowish tuber that has a distinct crunchy texture when cooked) with charqui pieces (traditionally salted and dried alpaca or llama meat, or now more commonly made with lamb), served with white rice.
• Rocoto relleno - an Arequipa dish made from stuffed rocotochilis (a medium sized, round hot chilli pepper). In this dish they are stuffed with spiced pork or beef mix.

The Jungle

Traditionally, jungle cuisine is made using the products local to the area. Although many animal species are hunted for food in the biologically diverse jungle, two standouts are the paiche (the world's largest freshwater fish) and turtles. However, hunting turtles is now prohibited in Peru.

Among the fruits of Peru's jungle is the camu camu, which contains 40 times more vitamin C than the kiwifruit. Exotic fruits such as mango and pineapple are also in abundance.

Other Regional Dishes

• Chalona - a cured meat originally obtained from alpaca but today lamb is often substituted. It is prepared using recently-cured lamb in which furrows are made with a knife in order for the salt to penetrate into the meat. The meat is left to dry in the sun and cold nights for almost one month.
• Chairo - a typical soup of the Puno region, consisting of chuño (freeze dried potato), sweet potatoes and chalona.
• Ocopa - a dish that consists of boiled and sliced yellow potatoes covered with a sauce of walnuts, chillies, and fresh or white cheese and served with lettuce.
• Copús - one of the best known dishes of Piura, consisting of ripe fried bananas, camotes (sweet potatoes), and seasoned hen, turkey, goat, and mutton. The meat is cooked in a furnace under the ground.
• Crema de tarwi (tarwi soup) - a soup made from tarwi, a vegetable native to the mountains of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Fresh tarwi is also used in stews, purees, sauces, desserts and in a variation of cebiche. In some areas, locals call it chocho. Tarwi can also be found in beverages (such as papaya juice with tarwi flour).

El Chifa

Chifa (from the mandarin words 'chi fan', meaning 'to eat rice') is the Peruvian term for Chinese food (or for a Chinese restaurant). In the 150 years since its arrival in Peru, the Chinese Peruvian culture has revolutionised Peruvian cuisine, gaining international recognition from those who have had the opportunity to sample it while visiting Peru.

Chifa reflects a fusion by Chinese Peruvians of the products that the Chinese brought with them to those that they found in Peru, and later cultivated themselves. Even some creole dishes such as tacu-tacu, lomo saltado and arroz chaufa were influenced by the Chinese.

In downtown Lima, on Capón Street, is the barrio chino (Chinatown). The great variety of savoury and sweet dishes there, with different types of meats, vegetables, and soups, created a new culinary alternative for Peruvians.

Sweet Dishes

• Alfajores - a common dessert made in several varieties. The basic recipe makes use of a base mix of flour, lemon rind, margarine and powdered sugar which is then oven-baked. Alfajores consist of two or more layers of this baked pastry, and is usually filled with either manjar blanco (a white, sweet, creamy filling made with milk and sugar) or molasses.
• Turrones (similar to fudge) are of several varieties. One common variety to be found in Lima is Turrón de Doña Pepa, an anise and honey nougat that is traditionally prepared for the Señor de los Milagros (or Lord of Miracles) procession, during October.
• Almost exclusive to Peru is the fruit known as 'lucuma.' Lucuma juice, ice cream and shakes are very popular throughout Peru.
• Helados (ice cream) - Peru has the usual assortment of common ice cream flavours but also some more exotic flavours such as camu camu, guaraná and tuna, the latter being the local name for the fruit of the prickly pear cactus (not to be confused with the fish).
• Mazamorra morada - a jelly-like dessert which takes on the colour of one of its main ingredients - purple maize.
• Picarones - a sweet, ring-shaped fritter with a pumpkin base; often served with a molasses syrup.
• Tejas - candy filled with manjar blanco and coated with a fondant-like shell.
• Suspiro Limeño - a dessert made of milk.

Beverages

Soft Drinks

Well-known soft drinks include:

• Chicha Morada - a beverage prepared from a base of boiled purple maize to which are added chunks of pineapple, sugar, and ice as it cools. It has a pleasant, almost fruity taste. Not to be confused with the fermented beverage chicha (chicha de jora).
• Inca Kola - the brand of a popular fizzy soda drink (gaseosa), which is a cultural icon, served literally on the most humble to the most exclusive tables nationwide, alone or with any type of food. Yellow in colour, it is sweet and refreshing. Some compare its flavour to bubble gum.

Less common are:

• Refresco de camu camu - Refrescos are basically non-fizzy type and simple juices of various flavours often served with the set menu of the day at smaller restaurants. Besides camu camu, there are more common flavours such as orange juice.
• Té de uña de gato - aA tea made from a plant from the Amazon, cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa), known for its healing or medicinal properties.

Alcoholic Drinks

• Pisco, a kind of brandy, is considered by many to be the national drink of Peru. This distilled beverage made from grapes is produced in various regions of the country. Pisco Sour is a cocktail made from pisco combined with lemon juice, the white of an egg and sugar.
• Wines come from many different regions of the country, most notably from the Ica Region.
• Beer, as in many countries, is popular in all levels of society. Local brands include Pilsen and Cristal. Regional beers include Arequipeña and Cuzqueña, from Arequipa and Cuzco, respectively; though Cuzqueña is popular nationwide and is exported worldwide.
• Chicha or Chicha de Jora is another well-known drink, based on fermented maize and different aromatic herbs. Its consumption is mostly limited to the Andes area.