51. Peru: Cooking a Peruvian Feast

Week 51 and we return to South & Central America for the final time following our trips to Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, and Mexico! For our penultimate meal we are incredibly excited to visit the magical land of Peru and celebrate this amazing country with our great friends Paul and Yazmin, and their wonderful children. Given Yazmin is Peruvian the pressure was certainly on in the kitchen this week!

We have never been to Peru but intend to one day, and most likely with our dinner guests today. It is a country that fascinates me, and I have always found something magical about it – the sort of place that may be conjured up in an expressive and excitable child’s vivid imagination. Picture taking a journey through lush rainforest which covers 2/3 of the county and which is the start point of the world’ largest river, the Amazon River. Picture travelling through the snow-capped Andes Mountains, the 2nd highest mountain range in the world. Picture walking across the Atacama coastal desert which in some places is so dry it has had 1 inch of rain in the last 30 years. Picture the deepest canyon in the world, the Cotahuasi Canyon, twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. Picture the world’s highest sand dune, the Cerro Blanco, standing at an incredible 3,860 feet from base to summit. Throw in a few stop offs…to swim with pink dolphins perhaps? To visit a local Shaman, of which there are more than any other country apart from India? Or perhaps a quick trip to Vinicunca, the rainbow mountain, a mountain of 7 distinct colours like no other! All that we are missing are giants and unicorns, although they do have 7.5million Alpacas and given Machu Picchu was built by hand on an 8000 ft mountain ridge…who knows?!

This incredible country of diverse landscapes is quite literally one of the most bio-diverse on the planet and is made up of 90 distinct microclimates. It is home to a staggering 25,000 plant species making up 10% of the world’s total, including the Puya Raimondii, the world’s tallest flowering plant. It has more distinct fish species than any other country and ranks 2nd for distinct species of birds including the world’s largest, the Andean Condor, standing at 4ft tall with a wingspan of up to 14 feet. It lets itself down when it comes to amphibians and mammals though, coming in at a disappointing 3rd on the planet for distinct species! You may be surprised to hear that in addition to the animals that one may expect to find lurking in the lush rainforest, slivering across the arid sand dunes or battling the elements of the snow-capped mountains, Peru is also home to Penguin colonies! It’s nearly as if they stopped off on their way to Antarctica and thought, “this aint bad, lets chill here for a bit”.

The Peruvian’s are a pretty peaceful bunch. Certainly, if their legendary soccer player, Teófilo “El Nene” Cubillas, widely considered the country’s greatest athlete is anything to go by, this is true. In a truly illustrious career, the attacking midfielder and free kick specialist racked up 100s of goals for club and country yet received only 1 yellow card over his 25 years of competitive football. Things were very different however in the 14th and 15th centuries when the Inca Empire, which arose from the Peruvian highlands in the early 13th century, was at its peak. Known for their fearsome warriors, the Incas built an empire through force and diplomacy that rivalled any the world has seen. The Inca’s left an artistic legacy of incredible architecture, textiles and ceramics that remain widely visible to this day and an infrastructure network comprising of 1000s of kilometres of roads. It could also be the case that relay races may have been inspired by Peru. Chasquis (or runners) were the some of the most highly trained and physically fit ‘messengers’ of the Inca Empire, tasked with running through a relay system of up to 240km in a day carrying important messages or gifts. It is thought that on occasion they would be tasked to bring fresh seafood from the coast to be eaten by Inca nobility residing inland…an ancient Deliveroo!

Peru is fast becoming one of the world’s top gastronomic hot spots and is the location of 2 of the world’s top 10 restaurants. Its cooking techniques and unique flavours owe much to its cultural diversity. From pre-Hispanic cuisine to the concepts and dishes introduced from the Spanish colonization of the 16th century to the big culinary influences from China and Japan, it’s no wonder that Peru is attracting some of the world’s top chefs to train. Our local friend Ana grew up by the coast in Lima and spoke to us about the hugely diverse food scene. She believes much of it is down to its incredible biodiversity and having such unique ingredients from the rainforest, the oceans, and the mountains. I can understand how she misses the colourful markets and getting fresh fish and seafood straight from the fishing boats moored up to sell their catch. Our dinner guest Yazmin also grew up in Lima and is understandably immensely proud of her national cuisine. She specifically remembers how fresh and healthy the food was with staples being quinoa, sweet potato and fish often seasoned with lots of lime. Food was such a big and special part of her childhood and she has many amazing memories, often centred around food. Hopefully, we have done Peruvian food justice and have created another happy food memory for Yazmin today!