The story of Peruvian food through the centuries is a delightful tale full of drama that I, as a modern Scheherazade, would love to share with you in this book. So let me set aside both the glorious and the painful sides of our history first, and focus only on the evolution of flavors that have become the core of our interesting gastronomy.
What makes Peruvian cuisine so enticing and wherein lies its huge attraction? I believe the reason behind its massive popularity are the European, African, and Asian flavors and techniques that have been adopted and blended with the local traditions and ingredients. Our cuisine takes pride in being open and flexible with the food of other countries, and this is why we quickly transform every foreign influence into a complex fusion of foods that burst with taste and soul.
Peruvians have been blessed to live in a country that contains most of the world’s micro climates within its varied geography. This allows for a fascinating array of luscious, colorful, nutrient-packed and sometimes funny-looking ingredients available year-round. Take the Amazon forest. This region alone boasts one of the most exquisite biodiversities in the entire world, and is home to all kinds of exotic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, freshwater fish from the rivers and lagoons, and wild animals that make stunning dishes.
In the Andes, the extremely cold weather is ideal to grow native cereals like quinoa, amaranth, cañihua, and our beloved giant kernel corn. More than 3,000 varieties of potatoes grow in this part of the country, alongside tubers like maca (known as the Peruvian ginseng), olluco, oca, and mashua. This is the land of llamas, alpacas, and all their relatives, which you can see running free up in the mountains, or turned into sturdy dishes cooked in clay pots with chili peppers and black mint. Vibrant pink trout from local rivers, and frogs from Huancayo´s lakes are freshly caught and cooked in the moment, the latter sometimes turned into a soup famous for its invigorating properties.
The coast has a completely different weather from these two regions, and as such, its gastronomy is also a completely different animal, both figuratively and literally. This is the kingdom of the Pacific Ocean, a fish and seafood paradise where you will find fresh cebiches and tiraditos in every corner. The cold water current that runs along the Peruvian coast creates the perfect environment for sea critters to thrive, and for us to thrive on them. And although most of the coast is a desert, there are many small valleys in the river’s estuaries where farmers grow countless vegetables and fruits sold daily in the city markets.
With this background, it’s easy to understand why our gastronomy is what it is today, and is finally taking the world by storm. In this book you will find a selection of some of our favorite preparations for an assortment of comforting dishes that are considered everyday food in Peruvian homes. We also have added a few creative highlights just for fun. After all, that is what Peruvian food is all about: being open to experimentation and to change, without losing its essence. For the most part, the recipes you will find here will be easy to make and (we think) extremely tasty. We hope you feel the same way, and you learn a few new dishes that will become a part of your life in the kitchen.
Buen provecho!
