Sure I miss steak, sandwiches, salads, pimento cheese, and the list could go on and on. But I am pretty lucky to be in Peru - a country known for its gastronomy. Peru is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most "platos typicos" or typical dishes with 450. Below is an incomplete explanation of what food I most commonly eat and drink. Really, my day to day food is just a lot of chicken and rice with potato or yuca. A lot of chicken and rice. Like, a lot.
Food
Breakfast:
bread with butter and jelly - bread is brought fresh each day and is a staple for breakfast
"Quacker" oatmeal - oatmeal is a common breakfast drink. Frequently not called "avena" which means oatmeal but called by the brand name "Quacker". They make a large quantity of oatmeal that is extremely watery so it is actually a drink rather than the way I am used to having oatmeal
Cafe con leche - my favorite part of breakfast is coffee with milk. Although there are South American countries who grow delicious coffee, the majority of South American countries still use instant coffee mix such as NesCafe by Nestlé
If eating out for breakfast in a capital city, there are 2 customary choices and after those it depends on the place. Those choices are Americano and Continental. The Americano includes bread and butter, juice, coffee, and eggs either fried or scrambled. It usually costs around S/ 10 ($4).
Main Dishes:
Arroz con Pollo - though essentially every meal consists of rice and chicken, this a special rice and chicken dish. The rice is prepared with ???? Other common variations of Arroz con Pollo are Arroz con Pato (duck) and Arroz con Cubierta (lamb)
Lomo Saltado - lomo is strips of beef and Saltado refers to the sautéed onion and veggies it is topped with. Lomo Saltado is typically served over a bed of rice with a side of French fries. There is also Pollo Saltado
Aji de Gallina - aji is the name of peppers in Peru, something Peru is known well for, especially the hot ricotto pepper. I am not a fan of spicy food but yellow aji is very tasty! Aji de Gallina is a chicken dish made with pulled chicken mixed in with a sauce of yellow aji, bread and/or crackers and milk. The chicken and sauce mixture is laid on top of two potato rounds and a bed of rice and is topped with half a hard boiled egg and an olive. When I first got to Peru, I would eat this dish but did not enjoy it. Now I crave it and try to order it whenever I can!
Tallerines - are a noodle similar to fettaccini noodles. They are prepared as either Tallerines Rojos with tomato sauce or Tallerines Verdes with a basil and broccoli sauce. I prefer Tallerines Verdes.
Cubano - A Cubano is a small portion of rice topped with a fried egg, fried banana, and typically served with French fries.
It is normal for any dish to be served with beans, lentils, potato, yuca and/or a salad. Yuca is a course root. And salads in Peru are a little different. A common salad consists of only tomatoes and cucumber slices. Another common salad is beat salad made with small cubes of beets covered in mayonnaise. In site, the only salad dressing I have ever seen used is mayonnaise. Another typical salad is just thin slices of radishes. Essentially any fresh vegetable eaten is considered the meal's salad and is not common. Peace Corps volunteers often bg host families for more greens in their diets.
Chifa: Chifa is Peruvian Chinese food and is easy to find in any capital city. my favorite Chifa dish is Arroz Chaufa. Arroz Chaufa is a stir fry made with a cut up omelet, sliced green onion, sliced hot dog, and either chicken or shrimp mixed with rice and soy sauce. It is frequently served either with soup or wantons.
Desserts:
Arroz con Leche - is literally what is says, a dish made with rice and milk and lots of lots of sugar. It is a common treat at children's birthday parties.
Masamuya - a type of really thick jello
Geletina - more typical jello especially common in summer months
Keke - pronounced "cakay" reminds me of pound cake. So obviously, this is one of my favorites
Birthday Cake - one of the biggest parts to any celebration is the impressive cake. Cakes are usually big and impressively decorated
Picarones - picarones are fried rings of dough served with a honey syrup. These are typically served by street venders and a favorite treat of mine.
Soups: Soups are served with many meals the most common is Caldo.
Caldo de Gallina - Caldo de Gallina is a soup with chicken and veggies in the broth. Remember, we eat the whole chicken here so your Caldo could have a chicken neck or foot ready for you to eat.
Famous Dishes:
Cuy - Peru is well known for eating ginea pig, but it is not a staple of any diet. This is because ginee pig is a delicacy, usually eaten for special birthdays or celebrations. The pigs are eaten when they grow to full size so I see many more pigs being raised in cuy houses than I do on the table.
Anticucho - anticucho is skewered beef and my favorite anticucho de corazon, which is skewered beef heart. It is marinated and then cooked on a grill and typically served its potato or sweet potato, and a piece of choclo, a type of yellow corn with big kernels.
Ceviche - ceviche is fish and/or seafood chemically cooked with lime juice and aji. Here ceviche can get pretty spicy. It is also usually served with sweet potato and/or yuca.
Alpaca - Peru is also known for its population of llama, alpaca, and vicuña. Therefore, alpaca meat is eaten in the mountainous regions.
Menu - Menu is what a restaurants set menu is called. It usually includes a soup or a salad, a main entree, a desert, and a drink for anywhere between S/ 8 - 25 and usually offers two or three options for each course or at least the main dish.
Drinks
Refresco and Juices - pineapple, papaya, apple, orange, mango, lemonade Peru has a plethora of delicious fruits and this results in numerous fruit juices and refrescos. Many Peruvian meals are accompanied with a juice or refesco.
Chicha - an alcoholic drink made by fermenting corn. The drink comes out a milky orangey color. It is more typical in the Sierra (mountain region). A place selling chicha usually will have a long pole with a plastic bag on top to signal they have the Peruvian drink.
Chicha Morada - a refresco made from purple corn with sugar added. While Chicha is alcoholic, chicha morada is not. I really like chicha morada!
Gaseosa - though the word "gaseosa" means soft drink, it frequently refers to the yellow syrupy drink of Inka Kola. Inka Kola is an old Peruvian staple, thought they were bought by Coca Cola in 1996. Others "gaseosa" choices are Coca Cola, referred to as "Coca," and sprite. You can find Coca Cola Zero in capital cities but, much to my sadness, Diet Coke (called Coca Cola Light in South America because of the negative connotation of the word "diet" here) is a rare find in Peru.
Cervesas - Cervesa is beer. There are 3 common beer choices - Cristal, Pilsen, and Cuzquena. They all are similar to Bud Light except for the other variations of Cuzquna such as trigo (wheat) negro (black) and red lager which are usually available in capital cities. Sometimes a few local microbrews can be found in capital cities and nicer restaurants such as Sierra Andina and Tres Cruces. Likewise, there are a few hostals in touristy areas that brew their own beer such as Dragonfly.
Pisco - Pisco is a native of Peru. Made using fermented grapes, Pisco is a type of brandy. In the south of Peru, in the department of Ica there are many vineyards and wineries that produce Pisco. Specifically, the town of Pisco, Peru. The popular drink of Peru is the Pisco Sour, made with Pisco, sour mix, and egg white. Pisco Sour day is February 2.
Wine - Wine is not common to find in rural Peru but the wine Peru does produce tends to be very, very sweet.
Interesting note on drinking: Peruvians do not customarily drink throughout a meal as Americans. We will start a meal with a drink, drink throughout a meal, and finish with one as well. Peruvians tend to eat without anything to drink and then have one small glass that is drank quickly at the end of the meal. They also do not drink water and drink less than Americans over all. Until we are talking about beer, and then it's a whole other story.
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