Peru - food!

peruvians love their potatoes. the incans love their potatoes. and apparently thats where the irish got their potatoes. but dont think all potatoes are the same - there are 300+ species of potatoes. and it shows in their food. there are potatoes in almost every dish. even dehydrated potatoes. mmmmmmmm! and they like their rice and noodles. im pretty much all carbed out.

so lunch is their biggest meal. and with the biggest meal always comes soup. peruvian soup is delicous! its always delicious. i havent had soup once here that wasnt good. and its varied. theyre good with their brothy chicken soups with veggies and sometimes some noodles and always with potatoes. theyre also good with their blended soups with cream. they jam pack the soups with tons of flavor. lots of onion and garlic and all different types of veggies. i swear they sprinkle it with goodness. i havent been good at taking food pictures, so nothing to show for it. but this is also bc food presentation isnt that great either.

onto the second dish - usually potato or rice or noodles as the carb and lots of saucy dishes with some meat and veggies. their trout is very good here. and i just had ceviche (onions, lemons, raw seafood)here the other day. not too keen on trying it too often in cusco cause seafood is not the freshest here. theres this potato casserole that was good. it was potato, egg, lettuce, onions, mayo all stacked onto each other. like an organized potato salad. my friends have been getting sick eating eggs...at least they think so cause some people dont refrigerate the eggs. ive been fine so far though. they dont really eat fresh green veggies though. so i feel like im lacking on a little fiber and vit and minerals.

they like their meat. alpaca (the llama brother) is popular here. but its a bit too gamey for my taste. theres also the delicacy called cuy - roasted guinea pig. havent tried it yet, but sometime this week. its really expensive in cusco. most likely because of the tourists. they also like roasted baby piggies. havent tried that either.... dont think i will get the chance to but it sounds good. people here seem to travel to other little towns outside of cusco for these delicacies.

fruit! is delicious. theres always fresh fruit juice for breakfast! and some crazy fruits around. i tried this weird one called the grenadia. its orange and about the size of a small orange but it has a crunchy shell. once you tap through the shell though, there are tons of seeds covered in this green goo. kinda like pomegranates, but gooeyier and more alien like. its pretty tastey though. you just suck all the seeds out. mmm! and i tried the fruit from the coca plant. its tasty also. kinda like lychees. hard to eat the flesh because like a lychee, theres a thin fruit covering over the seed. unlike the lychee, the fruit doesnt come off the seed easily. lots of papaya, pineapple, bananas, oranges, apples (not as good). i still tink the fruit in taiwan is better.

drinks are nice. the peruvian hard liqueur is the pisco. made from grapes. kinda tastes a bit like tequila. mmm. they put it in with some sour mix and called it the pisco sour which is foamy...not sure where the foam comes from. also they put it in warmed milk with sugar. its actually pretty tasty. except for the fact that i dont like milk enough to drink the whole thing.

overall, ive been pleased with the food here. they are good cooks and enjoy good tasty food.