Food: Peruvian Cuisine

1 Fluffy cheese empanadas enjoyed at a café in Cusco 2 One night I made my version of Peruvian food with ginger fried blue fish, coconut rice and mango cilantro salsa  3 Cow heart (enough said) 4 Attended a wonderful Peruvian wedding where they had a beautiful spread of ceviche shooters, fresh salmon thinly slices, shrimp and marinated octopus 5 Lamb marinated in cilantro gravy at a quaint restaurant in Aguas Caliente 6 Hands down the best Ceviche on earth White fish, lime, hot peppers, cilantro and garlic7 Pisco Sour and Ceviche shooter…BLISS 8 The best sushi I ever had in my life so fresh they probably caught it right before bringing it to the table 9 PISCO SOUR 10 This was my favorite table at the wedding: Pate, tuna tartar, caviar, salmon tartar 11 At a wonderful restaurant in Mira Flores, Lima it sat right in the water we enjoyed Calamari, Ceviche, and swordfish kabob

Last week we got the opportunity to travel to the country of Peru for the most amazing adventure! I got the opportunity to visit the cities of Lima (neighborhood of Miraflores), Cusco, Aguas Caliente and Machu Picchu. This week we will feature some good articles and videos on my travels.  Today I wanted to kick off the week by featuring Peruvian cuisine at its finest. 

In a nutshell Peruvian cuisine is characterized by fresh seafood, bold use of herbs and spices and one of the best kept secrets on earth PISCO! I love the fact that most of our meals included some fresh caught fish or sea creature. Peru is famous throughout the world as having the most delectable Ceviche this is probably one of the reasons Lima is known as the South American food capital. And don’t forget about the PISCO! One of the most delicious cocktails I have had the privilege of tasting is Pisco Sour. With its main ingredient being Pisco a liquor derived from a Spanish grape and created out of necessity when in the 16th century the King of Spain banned wine and thus Pisco was created (thank you king). National Pisco Sour day is the first weekend in February I will be observing this holiday next year.                        

All in all my words can not do much justice to the delicious cilantro gravy,  or to the olive and wine sauce in those Ceviche shooters, so enjoy the photos and stay tuned to PAPAROXI.com for some Peruvian inspired dishes. Enjoy!