Peruvian cuisine is ever-changing and growing, and famous on a global scale. However, some of the best pastries are the ones that have been around for hundreds of years. One tasty treat that has stood the test of time are the delicious Peruvian donuts known as picarones. Sold on many street corners, with its spiced syrup made of chancaca, which is a type of raw sugar, picarones are the perfect way to end a day of exploring.

Picarones were invented during the viceroyalty of Peru when the Spaniards who had come over to Peru wanted to make buñuelos (a type of fried dough snack found in many parts of Spain). However, they needed to use the ingredients that Peru had to offer, namely squash and sweet potato. Instead of re-creating the fritters they were used to back home, they instead created something entirely new and wonderful, and enjoyed to this day. Topping these perfect rings that are exquisitely crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with the sweet, spiced chancaca syrup rounds out the plate entirely.

While making picarones can take some time, they are not technically challenging, and while some ingredients may be difficult to find outside of Peru (for example, chancaca), these are usually easily substituted (for example, with brown sugar). This recipe is a bit simplified and considering ingredients that you can more easily find in North America. Enjoy!

Picarones Recipe

• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs
• Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins
• Servings: 52 Picarones

Ingredients

• 1 Tbs. dry baking yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbs. ground corn or cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. crushed anise
• 3 cups white flour
• 1 cup premium beer
• 1 cup cooked butternut squash pureed.
• 1-2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 lemon or orange peel shreds

Instructions

1. Doughnut Instructions: Dissolve sugar and yeast in the warm water, use a small bowl for this.
2. Mix cornmeal, salt, anise seed, 1 cup flour and beer in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and mix.
3. Add squash or pumpkin and 2 cups of flour. Mix together to form a soft dough texture. Cover with a towel and let the mixture rise in a warm place for around 2 hours. You can also let the batter rise in the refrigerator for 4 to 12 hours if covered with film.
4. Syrup instructions: Add the Syrup ingredients in a saucepan and leave to boil over medium heat level. Reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer until a thick syrup forms after 15 minutes or so. Remove saucepan from heat.
5. To prepare doughnuts: Heat oil in a wok. Drop tablespoons of dough into hot oil and fry until crispy golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with warm syrup.

Notes

• Helpful hints: To test for proper temperature, drop a small spoonful of dough into hot oil; if it rises quickly to the surface, the oil is hot enough.
• If using the new quick-acting yeast, use half as much. Add to dry ingredients. Rising time will be reduced by about half.
• To reheat doughnuts, place on baking sheets in a 350-degree oven until hot, about 5 minutes.

Source: eatperu.com

All over the world, there are foods and dishes that people associate with different times of the year – autumn in the United States wouldn’t be the same without pumpkin pie, for example. In Peru you will find that there are foods special to each time of year as well! Right now we are in the middle of Carnavales, and so this is the perfect time to showcase the flavors of carnavales in Peru!

There are many delicious dishes to try during this time of year. However for today, we will provide you with the recipes to prepare a full Carnaval meal, complete with soup, entrée, and dessert!

In Peru, it is very common to find a Menú of the Day for lunch, and these nearly always start with a soup. One very typical soup that you may find during Carnavales is what is called “Chupe de Peras”, or “Pear Chowder”. This is a delicious, savory soup with pears added, to give it a sweet little something extra. The recipe is often quite complicated, however here is an easy version so you can give this Peruvian soup a try at home:

Chupe de Peras:

Ingredients for 10 persons:

• 1 1/2 kilos of meat
• 1 small piece of chalona (salted, dried meat)
• 1 kilo of potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup of wheat berries
• 20 small pears, already stewed

For the rehogado (flavoring):

• 1 cup of finely diced onions
• 1 teaspoon garlic
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• salt as needed
• oil

Preparation:

1. Boil the meat together with carrots, onion, garlic, salt, and chalona, to form a flavorful broth (usually about 1 – 2 hours).
2. Strain the broth.
3. Prepare the rehogado with the onions, garlic, 1/2 cup oil and pepper, let it cook well, until the onions are clear.
4. Place the potatoes and wheat berries (and meat if it is still tough) into a pressure cooker with the meat broth, and cook for approximately 10 – 15 minutes, giving the potatoes and wheat berries time to get tender.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.
6. Pour this mixture over the rehogado, and let it simmer for a bit to absorb the flavors.
7. Before serving add a bundle of oregano, yerba buena(mint), and cilantro.
8. Serve by placing two pears, previously stewed, in each bowl, and pouring the soup on top.

Next, you need a hearty entrée to get you through the celebration and flavors of Carnavales in Peru! What better dish than a traditional puchero, a mix of delicious, hearty flavors that brings together friends and family, celebrating the festive feeling of this time of year?

Puchero:

Ingredients: for 10 persons:

• 1kg of beef
• 1kg of lamb meat
• ½ kilo of chalona or cecina (salted, dried meat)
• 3 garlic cloves
• A celery stalk
• 6 choclos (ears of fresh big, Peruvian corn)
• 4 Carrots
• ½ Morayas (white, freeze dried potatoes)
• 1 cabbage
• chickpeas
• ½ kilo Rice
• 6 small potatoes
• 1 kilo of yucca
• 1 bundle of asnapa (Cusco’s traditional herbs)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil 5 liters of water
2. Once boiling, add 3 cloves of garlic, the celery, the pieces of lamb, beef and the chalona. Also add the herbs and flavoring that will give the special touch to the broth.
3. Wait until the meat cooks before adding the potatoes, yucca, and carrot.
4. When the potatoes, yucca, and carrot are nearly tender, add the sweet potato and the moraya.
5. When all of the vegetables are tender, the soup portion is ready.
6. In a separate pot, boil the rice with the chickpeas, until they are tender (if you are at high altitude, use a pressure cooker).
7. When ready, mix the rice and chickpeas into the broth.
8. Separate the broth from the vegetables and meats.
9. Serve the stew in a large dish and the broth in another.

This dish is best served with uchucuta, which is a hot sauce made with rocoto peppers, however it will be delicious with your favorite hot sauce as well, or even just on its own!

And what meal would be complete without a lovely dessert to round it out? Dulce de duraznos is a perfect way to end the meal, and very easy to make! This tasty treat can be enjoyed year round, but is most popular during the festive celebrations of Carnavales.

Dulce de duraznos:

Ingredients:

• 12 mature but firm peaches
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 6 cloves
• Juice from one lemon
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 1 liter of water

Preparation:

1. Clean and peel the peaches
2. Pour the water in a large pot with the peaches, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon juice and simmer.
3. Cook over low heat until the peaches are white and the liquid becomes slightly syrupy.
4. Serve warm, with ice cream if you like.

Carnavales are a special, festive time in Peru, with its typical foods adding to the flavor and excitement! If your trip to Peru lands during Carnavales, perhaps you will find one, or all, of these dishes to try! If not, use these easy recipes to conjure up a festive meal at home!

During your trip to Peru, you will likely come across some ladies selling interesting-looking beverages, either in glasses that you can consume there, or in re-purposed bottles to go.  This is one manner in which you can purchase chicha, a lightly fermented corn beer, incredibly popular in the mountains of Peru. There are many different kinds of chicha, from the effervescent and fruity frutillada to the sweet and rare cambray, a type of sugarcane chicha, to the earthy chicha de jora.

In this blog, we will talk about the preparation and consumption of chicha de jora, one of the most popular types of chicha, which can be traced back to pre-Inca times. Consumption of chicha dates from as early as 5000 BC, as evidenced by the discovery of remnants of pottery vats that were once used as chicha storage vessels.

Even today, the preparation and consumption of chicha is an important part of Peruvian culture and is largely overseen by the women of the household. Large quantities of chicha de jora are consumed on significant holidays, and chicha is an important part of Quechua culture. In the Peruvian Andes, a pole with a red cloth tied to the top serves as a sort of flag post that means: “Chicha is prepared here.” Locals can knock on the door to partake in a glass or bring a container to carry some home. Chicha de jora serves as the party drink at important Peruvian festivals, and it is customary to consume inordinate amounts during Inti Raymi. In addition to corn and cassava, chicha is also prepared from a variety of other ingredients, including quinoa, potatoes, and oca (a brightly colored root vegetable), among others.

The steps in making chicha de jora corn beer are similar to the steps used in beer making. A variety of yellow corn, known as jora, is germinated to release the starches. A chew-and-spit technique is also used as an alternative to germination, and, in fact, has been used throughout the world in other fermented beverages. The chicha is boiled and fermented in large vats for several days. The end product is a yellowish, somewhat frothy or milky, slightly sour beverage with an alcohol content of usually less than 3%, thus explaining the large quantities consumed at festivals and parties.

When you arrive for your Peru holiday, be sure to try some chicha de jora. Luckily for you, we will take care of all of the driving responsibilities, so feel free to party like a local during your Peru experience.

When you travel to a different country, everything is exciting, with new experiences to be had, new foods to try, new things to see and do. Sometimes, however, a bit of familiarity during your travels can be a port in the storm of all of the novelty going on around you. What could be more familiar and comforting during your Peru trip than a great cup of coffee?

Peru is among the top twenty coffee producers in the world, and is fifth in the exportation of Arabica beans, a variety grown on over 200,000 small Peruvian coffee farms. Peru is also lauded as one of the largest producers of organic and fair-trade coffee, with most of its coffee processed through cooperatives.

Peru recently won first place in the international SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) awards for the second year running. This year, a coffee cooperative from Cusco, CAC Incahuasi Lucio Luque Vasquez, claimed first prize in this competition. Last year’s winner was a grower cooperative in Puno.

The process to make coffee has quite a few steps, from bean to cup. First, the coffee beans come from the bright red fruit of the coffee tree, known as coffee cherries. There is not enough pulp in a coffee cherry to make it a worthy snack, though the flavor is pleasant enough. Legend has it that coffee’s stimulating effects were first noted after a herdsman observed his goats’ increased joie de vivre after grazing on coffee cherries. Coffee beans are harvested, separated from the cherry, roasted, and then ground to various grades of fineness before being brewed to produce the robust drink we enjoy each morning.

While you are in Peru, you will have the chance to try this delicious cup of joe and taste for yourself why Peru won first place in he international SCAA award.  Here are a few of our favorite cafes in Cusco and Lima:

Now we get to what some would argue is the best part of your culinary experience during your Peru trip: what to eat for dessert! With its typical Andean dishes, delightful, unique ingredients, and creative melding of various cuisines, it’s not surprising that Peru offers an abundance of preparations to satisfy your sweet tooth. We’ll discuss some of the most popular and luscious, and include a few recipes. DO try this at home!

Alfajores: Perhaps one of the most popular sweet treats you’ll find in Peru is alfajores. This is a type of sugar-dusted cookie sandwich filled with manjar blanco, a creamy and thick caramel sauce. Loosely based on an ancient Arabic dessert known as alajú, these crumbly cookies of Spanish origin have been popular in Peru since colonial times. They make a great accompaniment to your post-prandial coffee, and can be found at most bakeries in Lima and Cusco. Here’s a recipe for the cookie, followed by another for the creamy filling.

Picarones: Some people have compared picarones to deep-fried donuts, but that description does not do them justice. Picarones are a doughy, deep-fried melt-in-your-mouth treat made with sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and spices like cloves and cinnamon. They are believed to have been invented by Afro-Caribbean slaves that were brought to Peru in the 18th century.

Warm and crispy, picarones are served with sweet chancaca syrup, a type of raw cane syrup made from chunks of raw sugar, or panela, which can be found in Peruvian traditional markets like Mercado San Pedro. You can find picarones vendors on busy street corners in Cusco and Lima. What a heavenly way to get your veggies in! Be sure to ask your Kuoda tour guide to help you find some to snack on during your Peru holiday!

Here is a recipe to try.

Crema volteada translates as “upside-down cream,” and if you gravitate towards lusciously sweet, creamy desserts, this flan-like custard is for you. Made with cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, crema volteada is drizzled with burnt sugar syrup and served at many Peruvian panaderías (bakeries) and cafés to accompany a coffee drink, or by itself as a luscious, creamy dessert. You can add nuts, raisins, fruits, and other items to create a contrasting crunchy or chewy texture.

Want to make it yourself? Here’s a recipe.

Mazamorra Morada: The ideal dessert to eat on a cold, gray, rainy day in Lima or Cusco is a warm and comforting serving of mazamorra morada. This is another pudding-like dessert based on the popular Peruvian chicha morada, or purple corn drink.

Thickened with cornstarch, dotted with bits of fruit, and spiced with cinnamon and cloves, this warming dessert goes down easy and is especially delicious when accompanied by arroz con leche, or rice pudding. Here’s a recipe.

Maracuyá Cheesecake: If you read our last blog about the fruits of Peru, you may remember my mention of maracuyá, or passion fruit. One of the most mouth-watering desserts you can find is a delicious passion fruit cheesecake. The contrast of the creamy, sweet cheesecake topped with the crunchy, tangy maracuyá fruit and seeds will delight your palate. It’s a dessert that pleases the eye as well as the stomach, with its lovely tangerine-colored glaze dotted with black passion fruit seeds. During your travels through Peru, you will be able to find great maracuyá cheesecake at better cafés and panaderías in Lima and Cusco. Here’s a recipe.

One thing is for certain; your sweet tooth won’t lack options on your next journey to Peru!

In addition to being the origin of important staple foods that have spread throughout the world, Peru is fertile ground for hundreds of species of edible fruits, some of which you may never have heard of. In this article, we will examine some of these fruits, discuss their gastronomic properties and health benefits, and provide some clues as to where you might be able to try them during your Peru holiday.

Many of Peru’s little known fruits are grown in the Amazon. These exotic fruits have adapted specifically to the jungle in order to survive and propagate, and many are highly perishable and don’t readily thrive in other climatic zones. An example is camu camu, which claims one of the highest Vitamin C contents of any fruits on the planet! This tasty fruit gives a wonderfully tart flavor to refrescos, (a delicious beverage that often accompanies meals), and it is more palatable when combined with other fruits or sweetener. Although camu camu is exported in powdered form, it is nearly impossible to find it in its fresh form anywhere outside of Peru. It is highly perishable and doesn’t travel well, so you’ll need to be sure to sample it fresh during your Peru trip!

Aguaymanto, aka the Peruvian ground cherry, is a member of the nightshade family that also gives us potatoes and tomatoes. It grows encased in a papery husk, which has to be removed, and has a lovely tart/sweet flavor when ripe, slightly reminiscent of a tomato, but both sweeter and tarter. It is high in Vitamins A and C. It grows in the Andes mountains, and is among the fruits that keep well enough to be exported: you may see it in grocery stores in the US when it is in season from May to July. It is also used in preserves, and can sometimes be found as a delightfully surprising fruit additive to chocolate, which contrasts well with the creamy bittersweet flavor of the chocolate.

Another native fruit is the tart maracuyá, one of many types of passion fruit. Maracuya is pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, by the way – like this: Mah-Rah-Coo-Yá. The maracuyá has a semi-hard yellowish rind, which when broken, contains many small seeds surrounded by pulpy orange-colored flesh. Prized as an ingredient in paletas/helados, or popsicles in Peru, it also makes a great topping for cheesecake and is used in beverages and desserts, though is often considered too sour to eat on its own, unsweetened. To eat it raw, break it open and suck out the flesh and seeds. The seeds contain fiber, which is great for digestion, as well as polyphenols, which studies demonstrate may play a role in preventing degenerative diseases in the body, such as heart disease and cancer. A supplement made from the peel is currently under study for its anti-inflammatory effects on the body. It is also high in Vitamin A and potassium, and grows in Peru’s tropical regions.

The lúcuma, or egg fruit, is a fruit with a dark green skin that is fairly ugly when ripe, belying the deliciousness underneath. The golden orange colored flesh has a creamy, custard-like consistency and a rich, delicate flavor that’s reminiscent of a caramelly, mapley sweet potato. It makes an excellent first food for babies, as it’s soft, tasty, and easy to digest. In the past few years, it has been marketed in powdered form as a low-glycemic sweetener and sugar substitute. Lúcuma grows in the valleys of the Peruvian Andes, and legend has it that this is a great fruit for women to consume as an aid to fertility.

Depending on the time of year you take your Peru holiday, you may be able to sample each of these fruits on a trip to San Pedro Market in Cusco. You can also try them in liquid form in a batido, or shake, which you can order from one of the many juice stands you’ll find at San Pedro Market in Cusco, Surquillo Market #2 in Lima, or at Pisac Market in the Sacred Valley.

Peru is truly an abundant country that has provided the world with many gifts.

It’s a nation of diverse climates, with mountains, desert, jungle, and sea regions. Each of these types of terrain offers the ideal conditions to grow specific crops, many of which are used all over the world. Here we will take a look at foods that originated in Peru, and over the next several weeks, we’ll discuss foods from different regions throughout Peru that you can sample during your trip to Peru.

One example of a food that originated in Peru you may know about is the potato. Brought to Europe in the 15th century, the potato is now the third most important agricultural crop in the world. And there are more than 4000 varieties of potatoes grown in Peru! They come in many sizes, shapes, and colors, and each type of potato is suited to different cooking techniques, with particular varieties best for frying, boiling, mashing, etc. They can be yellow, pink, magenta, brown, mottled and spotted, and even purple inside and out! There are also approximately 180 wild potato species, which, though not edible, but are important for their properties of disease resistance and their diverse gene profiles.

The tomato, which is a member of the nightshade family, is also of Peruvian origin. Although it has become a staple of Italian cuisine, all of today’s tomato variants were developed from the tiny bright red berry-like Solanum pimpinellifolium, known as a “pimp” tomato, which still grows wild in Northern Peru. The pimp and several other wild tomato species possess the hardiness and genetic diversity that modern cultivated variants lack. It is important to preserve these wild species as their DNA can lend toughness and durability to modern tomato varieties. Seeds of the wild species are collected and preserved in climate-controlled seed banks, where they are kept in storage for the use of researchers and scientists in developing hardier tomatoes.

Another widely dispersed food thought to have originated in Peru is the humble peanut. South American pre-Columbian people made peanut-shaped pottery as far back as 3500 years ago, and pre-Inca people added peanuts to the caches they stored with mummies to provide for the dead in the afterlife. Delicious Ocopa sauce, often served atop cold potatoes as an appetizer, is made from ají amarillo (yellow peppers), the culinary herb huacatay, or Andean black mint, and roasted peanuts. You can make Ocopa sauce at home from the following recipe.

Lima beans, or pallares, a widely dispersed and nutritious bean, is yet another crop that was known in Peru as early as 8,000 years ago! The European conquerors named the bean for Lima, Peru’s capital since that is where they first found them. The Mochica people of the Northern Peruvian coast painted representations of lima beans on their pottery thousands of years ago. There are several varieties; the largest is also known as the butter bean in the American South. Their creamy texture lends itself well to many “comfort” dishes; however, they should not be consumed raw as they contain cyanide in their uncooked state.

Here is a recipe for pallares, a comforting Peruvian lima bean dish made from the large variant; this should be perfect for the cooler months ahead for those reading this from the Northern Hemisphere.

In the following installments, we’ll examine regional prepared foods, beginning with Breads From Around Peru. Along with these tasty foods, you will be able to try some of these unique types of bread during your personalized trip to Peru.

In our previous installment on Inca food preservation techniques, we discussed the technique of freeze-drying, one of the Incas’ gifts to humanity. This type of food preservation relies on freezing temperatures and the heat of the sun, combined with human intervention (through stepping on the food) to get the moisture out of tubers and make it possible to keep them palatable and lighten their weight.

Still another food preservation technique employed by the Inca and pre-Inca people was curing, utilizing smoke, heat, salt, or a combination of all three. Here we’ll discuss those drying methods and show how they were used centuries ago, and are still useful even in modern times.

Drying Meat (Jerky)

It may interest you to know that the word Jerky, referring to the ever-popular dried meat snack and camping food, is derived from the Quechua word ch’arki, which specifically refers to alpaca or llama meat. It is thought that techniques for drying the meat were first developed between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago. The drying process, due to the reduction of moisture content in the meat, reduces the growth of microbes and decreases the weight of the meat, making it both transportable and concentrating in its nutrients. The meat is dried, salted, and pounded; all three techniques contribute to the longevity of the final product. In South America, ch’arki is often reconstituted and used in soups and stews. In Inca times, it was considered a luxury item and was largely consumed by royalty; it was only distributed to the general population during ceremonial events. Ch’arki was also a tribute item that the Inca royal house demanded as a tax from the general population.

In the Andes, from early days until now, the cold season is the time for making ch’arki. In the high Andes, the months of May through July are the coldest. The meat is most often deboned and then cut into thin strips no greater than one inch thick. They are laid out to expose them to the cold for one to three weeks, then pounded between stones to make them as thin as possible. The cold temperature and pounding alone can be used to dry the meat at high altitudes; however, at lower altitudes, it may also be smoked and salted to fully preserve it.

Salting Meat (Chalona)

Another technique for preserving meat is salt preservation, which produces a meat product known as chalona. Chalona can be prepared from different meats, including alpaca, lamb, beef, and pork. Cachi, or salt, is used. Layers of meat that are completely covered with salt are left to dry for several days. Another method uses a brine solution, wherein meat is soaked in salt water for about two weeks, then removed and dried.

At the San Pedro market in Cusco, one can easily find both chalona and ch’arki in the meat section for sale. The pungent smells might be strong for some, but if you can brave them, you will be able to see and learn about these two products first hand.

The following link contains information that should enable you to preserve your own meats at home, if you wish to try some of the techniques I have discussed. Here

We will be delighted to help you to sample both kinds of preserved meat during your luxury trip to Peru.