More food

Last weekend was all about food (as it should be in Lima!)

First I started out at El Pichito, a restaurant that serves food from the jungle with a couple of my students.

The girls are eating juane, seasoned rice mixed with chicken that is wrapped in a banana leaf before cooking. I'm eating patacones y cecina, fried plantain slices and ham.  We also had a similar version, tacacho, where the plantains are mashed and mixed with ham before being fried, for an appetizer.  I think I enjoyed the tacacho the best.  We also tried a couple of different juices and, for dessert, an ice cream made from a fruit that is supposed to make you curvy like an Amazonian woman.  (We'll see about that!)


Later I was off to Mistura, a famous food festival here in Peru.

You can find anything and everything related to Peruvian cuisine and culture here:

Mundo del pan (World of bread)

 Mundo de las Brasas (World of the Grill):
What's a food festival without grilled meat?

A traditional cooking technique

Mundo cervecero (World of Beer):
Now THIS is a beer tent!

It even had a museum about the history of brewing

Each brand had their own themed 'room' in the tent 

And in the center, a booth where you could learn all about tasting beers

Round 2: Some fancy causa and pisco 

Some traditional dancers

All in all I had a great time, but if I went back again, I'd have to take someone who knows where the best places are to eat, because the amount of options is a bit overwhelming.  Mistura 2015, though, would be a great activity for someone considering visiting me here (hint, hint!)  

Parque del las Aguas

I think I've discovered a new favorite place in Lima-the Parque de las Aguas!  It's amazing and so hard to describe, so I will attempt to show you the beauty in pictures.

Another view of Lima

Last weekend, I went back to the La Plaza Mayor-this time during the day.  Outside of the President's residence there is a changing of the guards ceremony.  While not as extensive as the one outside of Buckingham Palace, it was worth seeing:

Near the plaza, you can take a bus that takes you to the top of a hill, Cerra San Cristobal, from where you can look out over Lima.  This was a recommendation from one of my students and I was very glad I took his advice.  The bus takes you through a residential district where the streets are just barely wide enough for the bus to pass pedestrians on the side, combined with a steep grade as you ascend the hill. (Pittsburgh people, imagine a barely one lane assent of Potomac Ave-that is 3 times as long-from Banksville Rd and you will have a rough idea of what I'm talking about.)  Watching all of this from the front seat can really get your heart racing, let me tell you.  But the view from the top was worth every nerve-wracking moment:

The Fauna

Over the holiday, I had a chance to visit one of the zoos in Lima.  Despite the massive crowds, it was a fun experience.  The zoo is very nice and the animals are well-housed and well-taken care of.  Part of what made it so interesting was that they had animals from each of the different regions in Peru-the coast (where I live now), the mountains and the jungle.  I didn't take any pictures of the coastal animals, but I took some to prepare for future trips to the mountains and the jungle.

The Mountains:

The Andean Condor: I can't wait to see these in the wild when I visit Colca Canyon.

Vicuñas: A relative to the llama and domesticated alpacas

A llama

The Jungle:

The Andean Cock of the Rock

Jaguars

 

Geoffroy's Monk Saki

Musmuqui: Peruvian Red-necked Owl Monkeys

Barranco

I haven't started travelling around Peru yet, but I have been getting to know some parts of Lima.  Lately I have been staying in Barranco, a trendy neighborhood with great restaurants and night life.  I love it because there are some great views of the Pacific Ocean.

The most famous landmark in Barranco is the Punto de los Suspiros, the Bridge of Sighs.  I'm not sure of the story behind it, but apparently it's a romantic place to take someone on a first date.  

Barranco is full of museums too-my favorites being the ChocoMuseo and the Museum of Electricity.

Independence Day

Peru celebrated its Independence Day (Fiestas Patrias) earlier this week-July 28th and 29th-and, since Independence Day at home is celebrated with some specific food, I thought this would be a good time to talk about the traditional foods that I have sampled here.

As expected in the coastal region here, we eat a lot of fish-grilled, fried, etc.  But one of the most famous ways to eat it here is in ceviche, raw fish that is marinated in lemon juice.  I love ceviche and when I spend time in Lima, I try to eat at any opportunity.   

Ceviche is typically served with corn and camote, sweet potato.

A typical festival food here is anticuchos, kabobs made from beef hearts.  They are delicious.

These are typically served with boiled potatoes and corn.

In my first post, I mentioned not enjoying my first experience with causa; however, I've had it since and it's actually quiet tasty.  Causa is cold, mashed yellow potatoes, most typically layered with tuna and avocado and often topped with eggs and olives.

This weekend, I also had my first experience with grilled cuy, Guinea pig. I'm not sure that I'll seek it out in the future, but it wasn't bad.

This cuy is accompanied by papa a la huancaina, boiled potatoes covered in a spicy cheese sauce

And if the food wasn't decadent enough, they can be followed up by these heavenly desserts:

After you finish your anticuchos, you can pick up fresh picarones in the next festival booth.  Picarones are the love child of a funnel cake and a doughnut-fried dough drizzled with a clove-infused honey sauce.  When served piping hot, they are amazing!

If something sweeter is more your style, you can tickle your taste buds with Suspiro a la Limeña (literally, the sigh of a woman from Lima).

This custard is made with evaporated milk, so you can imagine how rich and creamy it is.

But what I eat more frequently at the plant are alfajores, cookies filled with manjar blanco, a caramel-like filling.  Decadent!

And with all these sweets, you, of course, need something to wash it down with:

If you are looking for something nationalistic and alcoholic, your best bet is a pisco sour.  Pisco is a grape brandy that can be paired with a variety of mixers.

If you want something family-friendly, you can try chicha morada, a beverage made by adding cloves and other spices to a base made from purple maize.

Also popular here is Inca Kola, a fluorescent yellow soda that tastes like bubble gum.  Personally, it's not my cup of tea, but it is popular.

With all of these being just a sampling of the food here, I now understand why USA Today predicted that Peruvian food will become a trend in the US.