My classes at the school last from 9am to 1pm and take place in the courtyard behind the school. Every day around 11:30, someone close by begins cooking lunch. The wonderful smell of roasting garlic wafts through my entire being and I can hardly think about past tense verb conjugation a moment longer … a hunger starts building that I can hardly contain by the time I find the perfect restaurant to enjoy my lunch two hours later.
As an American, I have found some peculiarities about Peruvian cuisine. The double carb norm being chief among them. Every meal is served with both potatoes and rice, a huge no-no for western palates. And verduras, vegetables, rarely consist of more than one piece of lettuce, one slice of tomato, and one slice of onion. But beyond these differences lie some amazing tastes to explore! This post is just meant to cover some of the highlights, and I will try to intersperse food into my other posts as well. Because really, food is one of the highlights of my travel. But given the abundance of delicious food, and the extent to which I love food, I thought it deserved at least one post of its own.
The variety of food in Arequipa is like no other part of Peru. Local picanterias offer traditional music, a relaxed atmosphere, lots of flies, and a surprisingly diverse selection of dishes. Some of my favorites – riccotto relleno (hot pepper stuffed with meat and topped with cheese) of course, chicharones (fried pork - though I like the Cusquenan variety a bit more than the drier Arequipenan version), and surprisingly – salsa de secca (the face of a cow, served as a salad with onions and some fava beans)! And you wash in all down with chicha, a popular fermented corn drink.
And then there is adobo. Arequipenans typically eat adobo for breakfast on Sundays, though I found a great restaurant that serves this delicious stew every day (El Super Adobo Arequipeno, just below the Plaza de Yanahuar) which works great for travelers who may not have a free Sunday while in town. I’m not usually a fan of thick stews, but this one blew me away. It is made with chicha, of course, though you don’t really notice that in the taste as you scoop spoonfulls of the broth in bread (never with a spoon). And right smack in the middle of the bowl, buried in sautéed onions, is a whole pork chop. Always with a big slice of fat for extra flavor. You have to eat a good amount of the broth first in order to keep from spilling it over the side when you cut the pork (and it would certainly be a sin to waste that broth). Best of all, the adobo is followed by a tea made from fresh anise – delicious and wonderfully soothing for your incredibly-too-full stomach.
Of course, cebiche is a well-known delicacy in Peru. The cebiche here is quite different than what I knew from the States, and SO MUCH BETTER! My last full day in Arequipa was a Friday. Following some horribly rainy days earlier in the week, this day was fabulous, blue skies so clear that you could finally again make out the Misti and Chichani volcanoes and the other mountains surrounding the city. It was warm and I was sweating in a t-shirt and jeans. Needless to say I was very happy – and a perfect day for a final meal of cebiche. I went with one of my teachers to his favorite spot. This teacher had been very excited when, a couple weeks earlier, he discovered my passion for trying new foods and quickly moved our conversation classes from the school to various restaurants around the city. It is thanks to him that I tied as many new foods as I did! Anyway, the cebiche on this last day was fabulous! It definitely beat the dish I had previously, when I tried picking out my own cebicheria. It was simple – large chunks of fish (though I cannot remember the type) with just a light lemon sauce and onion. It is served with choclo, boiled corn, which makes a refreshing complement to the fish. And of course, the toasted corn on the table that is often served at bars. As we cleared the plate, my teacher dumped the toasted corn into the leftover sauce – fabulous.
Finally, I must end this post on food with my favorite food of all – anticuchos! I was quite unsure about trying beef heart. I never had before, and didn’t think I needed to. But really, what did I have to lose. We went to a cafeteria next to a family pool complex – not a place I would peg for good authentic food, but apparently their anticuchos are some of the best. They are grilled and served in big chunks on a skewer with choclo on the side. A somewhat tough but very tender meat, with a wonderful flavor. I was with two other foreigners - one declined to try the anticuchos at all. The other thought they were just so-so and was satisfied with just a few bites. So, more for me! I was happy.
