Our Roots
Once upon a time Peru was a vast empire that covered most of South America. Despite this land’s unbelievable biodiversity, Peruvian food was mostly Andean food, with a few highlights from the coast and the Amazon jungle.
Many of the ingredients known and used today in most parts of the world, considered the most basic and indispensable players in people’s diets (like potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and chili peppers), are native to Peru. The ancient Peruvian man domesticated these crops and improved their quality with natural methods, making them resistant to plagues and disease, weather and pests. To us, these were abundant from the beginning of our history, and have never lost their place as staples of our diets.
The Incas, and the cultures before them, put all their efforts in preserving the copious supply of food the Pachamama (mother nature) provided them. These people mastered the crafts of smoking, drying, and salting food. In the Andes, they took advantage of the inhospitable temperatures to freeze-dry potatoes and meats to use in times of scarcity. At the same time, they built storage spaces in the mountains, similar to barns, in such a form that cereals were protected from insects and humidity, yet received the right amount of cold air to keep them fresh. Thanks to their intelligence, understanding of agriculture, and innovative methods, food in this empire was bountiful, and the word famine was probably not even in their vocabulary.
The cooking methods were simple. They never fried, but instead roasted, toasted, and cooked food using hot stones or baked it in underground ovens. They seasoned their dishes with salt (in the form of a rock that they would add to their clay pots, or by licking the rock while they ate), abundant chili peppers, and lots of Andean herbs such as huacatay (black mint), which imparted their intense taste to soups and stews.
Thanks to their mostly vegetarian diet dense with ingredients that are now considered “superfoods” around the world, Peruvians were healthy and strong. They didn´t eat eggs or milk, and meat was not an everyday ingredient for them, but generally eaten in times of celebration. Potatoes, quinoa, kiwicha (amaranth), tarwi, cañihua, chili peppers, and corn, were, and still are, a few of their daily basics. Sugar was unknown, but they used honey as an occasional treat. They sparingly enjoyed fresh and dried llama meat, cuy (guinea pig), and every now and then, fish.
It’s hard to believe that fresh fish was brought from the Pacific Ocean to Cusco every day for the Inca’s dinner. Although it seems like an impossible task, it was achieved thanks to the famous runners of the empire (called chasquis), who were in charge of the transportation of fish and other items that needed to be transported throughout the vast empire. Despite the altitude, lack of communication, and large distances, these men always got to their destination—and they ran as fast as the wind!
The Arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors
The arrival of the Spanish brought new ingredients and foods to America for the first time, along with Moorish women who quickly made their way to Peruvian kitchens with recipes from their homeland. These women were the wives, lovers, or cooks of many Spanish men, and they immediately started adapting their Arab-Spanish dishes until they were barely recognizable, making good use of all the new ingredients this land had to offer. These women are the reason rice pudding, stuffed potatoes, and alfajores exist in Peru, among many other dishes, particularly sweets.
Europe also became the recipient of a myriad of native Peruvian fruits, vegetables, and cereals. Tomatoes, for example, were used to decorate hats and gardens in European homes, as well as potatoes, which were grown for their beautiful purple flowers, but were considered too dangerous to eat (they were believed to be poisonous and diabolic). Many years went by before people tried these crops and fell in love with them.
While all this culinary exchange and fusion was taking place, Andean soups and stews also changed forever with the addition of cheese and milk (two ingredients previously considered taboo), with the growing popularity of beef, lamb, and pork, which became the “new meat,” and with all the other foreign flavors and techniques that the natives were now exposed to. Both cultures (Peruvian and Spanish) enriched themselves when they found each other, and this was only the beginning of a delicious evolution.
A Food Obsession
I have a fascination with the life and the culinary practices in vogue during the viceroyalty in Peru, and I have eagerly devoured many books on the subject, especially the ones written by food historian Rosario Olivas Weston, whose expertise in Peruvian gastronomy is astounding.
For centuries Lima was a sophisticated city, the center of the Viceroyalty of Peru, where the most important events of the area took place. The city was small—starting with 50 inhabitants and growing from there—but it was beautiful and had a bursting and vibrant commercial, cultural, social, and political life. Travelers from all over the world loved to journey to Lima and enjoy the charm of this cosmopolitan city and its people.
At the time, Lima, as well as other important cities in the country, had a great amount of European inhabitants. Life was quiet and one could even say people’s lives revolved around food, as they loved to eat copious amounts of delicious and varied dishes several times a day, especially when guests visited, which was (and still is) frequent.
Social Life
Social life was intense, and constant gatherings and celebrations were held on a daily basis. In fact, Peruvians were always partying and didn´t need a reason to celebrate, and this has been inherited for generations and still goes on today. Every wealthy household had large brigades of servants and cooks to manage the social activities, because the enormous houses with several living rooms, bedrooms, and gardens were extremely high-maintenance.
The kitchens had several cooks and helpers who worked incessantly to provide the constant food supply required from morning to evening. Remember that at the time there were no electric blenders or mixers, no gas stoves or electric ovens. Everything had to be made by hand, and the food was cooked over an open fire. Tough work, I’m sure, but the results must have been excellent, as is usually the case when things are cooked slowly, and from scratch.
According to historians, there were five regular meals every day, as follows:
Breakfast, at 9 a.m.
Lunch, at 3 p.m.
Dinner, at 10 p.m.
“Once” in Spanish (or “eleven” in English), was the time for drinking aguardiente (liquor). Aguardiente has eleven letters, hence the name.
Finally came the time for agasajo, which meant having a cup of hot chocolate, with pastries and cakes on the side, of course. Today we also have a name for that meal, usually enjoyed in the middle of the afternoon. It’s called lonche.
With a tight food schedule like this, I imagine these people ate all day long! Rumor has it that Limeñas (girls from Lima), were famous for having voracious appetites, and for being coquettish and accepting invitations to dine with several gentlemen—not at the same time, of course. The story goes on to tell that these men were always shocked when they realized the amount of food these ladies could gobble up when invited.
If you take into account the fact that Lima was surrounded by countless farms and orchards, and every home had a garden that produced fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables, it’s easy to imagine how tasty and varied the diet was. People regularly consumed good amounts of protein, cereals, legumes, and particularly sweets. Limeños also loved fish and seafood, as is to be expected in a city bordered by the ocean. When it came to eating meat, they didn’t favor just one type, but had a variety of hen, native duck, cow, goat, lamb, alpaca, llama, rabbit, and guinea pigs. Potatoes were obviously abundant, as well as other native vegetables and legumes like lima beans, corn, squash, and tomatoes. Food was seasoned with plenty of chili peppers and local herbs.
Papaya, cherimoya, and granadilla, were among the favorite fruits of the time, together with never before seen figs, melons, peaches, and oranges, which were all the rage for the novelty factor. Grapes were brought to Peru by the Spanish Marqués de Carabantes, and gained immediate popularity. This crop adapted very well to Peruvian soil, and it started being used to make wine and Pisco, our national spirit. The latter was exported to Spain and became one of the most important sources of income of the Viceroyalty.
Feasting 24/7
What dishes were popular in colonial households? Peruvians were very fond of hearty soups, stews, and huge corn puddings filled with beef. As side dishes, large platters containing boiled corn and potatoes were served on the table, and diners were expected to help themselves to several pieces of each to accompany their entrées.
Before dessert, they ended the savory meal with another dish they loved: the famous empanada. But this was not a small, regular, hand-size empanada like the ones we buy in bakeries today. The dish I’m talking about was a gigantic pie that needed to be carried by several servants from the kitchen to the dining room. Guests always took home big portions of this course, perhaps because they were already stuffed with food when the empanada made its glorious entrance.
After the meal itself, all kinds of sweets (maná, polvorones, manjar blanco) and desserts appeared on the table. Countless jars of water, fruit beverages and juices, liqueurs, and wines were strategically distributed around the table. After dinner, “la jarana” (a creolle party) began with the strumming of a guitar and a cajón (drum seat), and people enjoyed themselves, sipping wine, singing, and dancing until past midnight.
Street Vendors
Life in the city was marked by street vendors who offered all kinds of foods, always at the same time. People didn´t need to watch their clocks to know what time it was because it was enough to hear the street cry of each vendor to know the answer. The non stop parade went like this from dawn till dusk:
7 a.m.: Herbal teas and chicha
8 a.m.: Cakes and sour milk
9 am: The woman selling sanguito (a custardy dessert made with corn flour and molasses syrup) and choncholí (innards)
10 a.m.: Tamales
11 a.m.: Melons and sweet confections
12 a.m.: Empanadas and fruits
1 p.m.: Desserts like rice pudding, and alfajor
2 p.m.: Causa, humitas, and the picarones lady
3 p.m.: More sweets and anticuchos (Peruvian kebabs)
4 p.m.: The woman selling picantes (stews), and the man with the walnut piñita (slow-cooked nut sweet)
5 p.m.: Flower time, and caramanducas (bread rolls)
6 p.m.: Medicinal roots and cookies
7 p.m.: The ice cream guy, and the wafer seller
8 p.m.: Candy, mazamorra, and champus
9 p.m.: The sacristan walked all over the city requesting alms for the souls trapped in the purgatory
This daily display of food ran parallel to the many food joints, cafés, bakeries, elegant restaurants, and food stalls spread all around Lima.
Praying and Cooking
As you can see, colonial life was deeply attached to food. In the convents all around the cities, nuns were famous for making the best desserts, cookies, and candies in the country. They sold them to the public being the equivalent of modern-day catering businesses, and their desserts were requested for parties and every important social gathering that ever took place. Cooking was the nuns’ main activity, and their expertise in the trade was very profitable for the convents.
Not long ago, one could still go to the convents to order elaborate cakes to celebrate religious milestones such as first communions and baptisms, or simply to eat at home with friends. In recent years, the competition has become too great for nuns to keep up. Large caterers, bakeries, and grocery stores now prepare most of the sweet delicacies made once only by nuns.
The Italians
For many decades, the best grocery stores in the country were owned by Italian immigrants, who became famous for the quality of the ingredients they sold. On the other hand, stores owned by Peruvians were considered by many as dirty and low class, carrying cheap and ordinary produce. Then Italians transformed their stores into small cafés, offering coffee, Italian dishes, pastries, and breads. They were hardworking people, and the locals admired and respected them, making them their favorite vendors of specialty products.
Italians were the creators of many famous bakeries, ice cream and chocolate factories, and trattorias, especially when a larger number of them came to Peru at the end of the nineteenth century. Their satisfying food won the people’s hearts, and some of their dishes were transformed to fit Peruvian tastes and adopted by every home cook. This is why you can now find tallarines rojos (pasta in tomato sauce), and tallarines verdes (pasta with pesto sauce), in every household, on a regular basis. Minestrone became menestrón; and panettone became panetón. This is Peru’s most popular Christmas treat.
Other Important Influences
African
The way African slaves came to our country was sad and unfair, but sometimes amazing things come from the greatest adversity. These men taught Peruvians how to make the most of their scarcity by creating mouthwatering dishes out of the scraps of food they got from their masters. The creativity of these cooks is still revered by all of us, and many of their creations became top-selling classics of Peruvian cuisine. Sangrecita, tacu tacu, and chapanas and frejol colado are among our countless dishes with African roots.
French
There was a time, after the independence from Spain, that Peruvians turned to France for cultural guidance, and wanted to adopt its sophisticated ways. This was a natural reaction, as they wanted to distance themselves from the Spanish. To achieve this, they started to emulate the food and the manners of French aristocrats. These practices were most notorious among the high class.
As a consequence of this, French food, pastries, and desserts became fashionable, and many French restaurants opened their doors to the public. To this day, bavarois and mousse are made in every possible flavor, and are among the most popular desserts, eaten in many homes on a daily basis.
Chinese
When Chinese laborers came to our country to work for the country’s elite in estates, they had contracts that specified what kind and amount of food they were going to receive every month. They were able to keep eating rice and other Chinese ingredients, which allowed them to continue cooking their traditional dishes.
Peruvians were initially suspicious of these unfamiliar men who ate eccentric foods. But Chinese immigrants soon started opening little grocery stores that grew to become what we called fondas, or tiny restaurants selling only Chinese food. At the beginning their customers were Chinese only, but little by little, Peruvians opened up to the idea and discovered they liked this exotic food. Chifas were born.
What is a Chifa? It is a Chinese restaurant with a Peruvian infusion, now found in every corner of the country, and always packed with customers looking for appetizing food at reasonable prices. They are one of the most popular places to go with friends or family for special occasions or during the weekend.
Japanese
Japanese immigrants were very poor when they arrived in Peru, but they became small business owners in just a few years. Many decades had to pass before Peruvian chefs turned to them and learned a thing or two about their food. As you probably know by now, we adopted some of it as ours. The new way of making cebiche on the spot, instead of marinating it for hours in advance, became a hit around the world. Tiradito, with finely cut slices of fish similar to sashimi, was here to stay.