PERU-Terror & Peace…

We were a little bit concern coming into Peru because of all the things we heard about corruption with the police and what they do to put you in a bad situation. However, we are very fortunate to find about these things by ourselves. We crossed the border with very little hassles other that the ones we created for ourselves: no having enough cash, one of them. Then we decided to start exploring the culinary aspect of this beautiful country.

Roast Chiclayo Chicken.
In Peru this is very common: roast chicken (pollo a la brasa), and Peruvians really know how to make it taste good. In a restaurant in Chiclayo we got ¼ chicken + rice + salad + a drink for 11 Soles. Here is the conversion, approximately 2.7 Soles per Canadian dollar. With this meal we were able to satisfy our appetite.

My birthday cake!!!
This was an awesome birthday cake… For 4 Soles I had a piece of chocolate cake… I loved it!!!
How old am I? The wrong question. How old do I feel? Old enough to eat cake before dinner… which we enjoyed afterwards.

The 30’s of my wife: August 21, 2011.
Brian made me really happy that night; I went back in time when he cooked the first meal for me. Amazing cook, one of the reasons I love my husband…

Ingredients:
Avocado
Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Garlic
Rocoto (Peruvian hot pepper)
“Maruchan” noodles
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Margarine

Preparation:
1) Boil the potatoes and carrots.
2) Soak the noodles in hot water, not too soft.
3) Fry onions, garlic and rocoto in a sauce pan and add the noodles.
4) Serve the noodles and next to it the boiled potatoes with carrots. Spice with margarine, salt and pepper.
5) Finally add the avocado to the plate and if you happen to have a beer like us, enjoy the meal with it. Beer in Peru cost us 3.8 Soles for a large one… Cusqueña… this is in a small establishment in a small town, perhaps it will be cheaper in a supermarket, we will find out later.

Ceviche combo…
In Huanchaco Peru we enjoyed some seafood. Ceviche is raw fish cured with lemon and salt. I personally did not enjoy it but Brian had two plates of this meal: mine and his…
A combo means: Ceviche + main meal + a drink. We made the mistake to order two combos, 9.9 Soles/each. Too much food.
I enjoyed my main meal: seafood rice and Brian did too, although he got a little surprise in his drink: mold. Of course they did not charge us for the mold… be careful in Latin-America, it is easy to find mold or little animals in pop.
We experienced Inka Cola (included but normally it is 1.5-2 Soles for a little bottle), it was actually the Coca Cola the one with the surprise.
Also we had a beer, this time we tried “Trujillo”, and in a restaurant it costs 5 Soles…

CEVICHE!!!

Pepino.
This sweet fruit is similar to a mix of pear and melon together. It is a specie form the Andean region and it has been grown for years. Ninety percent of the fruit is water, low in calories and high in vitamin C.
I got two large one for 1.5 Soles.

Carmelo’s generosity…
In our way to Lima and then to Huacachina we met a generous gentleman who offered us his house, fed us dinner and enlightened us with a great conversation… During dinner I discovered two things: Chicha and Frejol colado.
Chicha is a drink made out of black corn. This particular one was mixed with pineapple, lime, apple, cinnamon; it goes from 5-7 Soles for a bottle of 1.5 litres.
Frejol colado is a sweet cream; a little container of about 400 grams goes for 5 Soles, delicious but too sweet!!! You can put it on bread or just eat it with a spoon…

Tip-top Burger and fries!!!
Carmelo took us out for dinner and we had a tasty and healthy burger. The name of the burger is Royal con huevo, queso y tomate for 13.7 Soles and fries for 5.7 Soles. Delicious and unexpected. This is the only establishment in Lima and the only one in the country… they for sure do a great job and you can be served in your car…

Look at the window of the car!!!

Cody’s killer soup.
I am sure Cody will seek for medical attention the next time he gets a cold. Why? Our soup was too spicy and even though it was intended to help him sweat he suffered through the process. We are always happy to find other Canadians in our journey and this Ontarian young fellow did a great job by finishing the soup as he was indicated. We really hope the soup does it job and he gets better. Best wishes Cody, a pleasure to have met you.
The soup cost $3.5 Canadian dollars for 4 people.

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Rocoto (Peruvian hot pepper)
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Maggi Doble Gusto beef seasoning

Preparation:
1) Boil the potatoes in water meanwhile cut the rest of the ingredients in reasonable pieces.
2) Add the onion, garlic, ginger, rocoto and cilantro.
3) Add salt, pepper and Maggi Doble Gusto to taste.
4) Enjoy and be sure you will feel better, if not immediately, at least soon!!!

Pobrecito...

Maca Avena.
These are oats but a specific kind of oat that grows in the Andean mountains. It cost 4.9 Soles for a package of 450 grams. This is mixed with milk and granola to make our daily breakfast.
We bought it at a store called Wong that used to be owned by a Chinese family (actually known to Carmelo); they started with a little corner store ending up with a chain of stores with excellent service to the public, now these stores were sold to a person from Chile and apparently service and everything went down. When we were there I was taking a picture on the street of the outside of the store and the guard told me it was prohibited so I challenged him to stop me and guess what happened? He looked at my eyes and who knows what he saw but he did not challenged me… and I got my picture… win to win situation.

Wong's store in Lima.