Culinary Adventures in Peru

Fair warning, this post is picture heavy. My husband and I recently went to Peru and hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. After the first part our trip (the hike) we spent some time in Lima. One of the days that we were there, we decided to take a culinary food tour that I want to talk. We booked these tickets months in advance and I was so excited once the day finally came. We started at a coffee roasters called Bisetti. There, we learned that they hand picked all of their coffee beans in the very store where we were – there was a lab in the back.

They do this to ensure quality and even roasting. While there, we each were offered a drink of some sort.

I chose an espresso because I was curious about how the coffee would taste. It was amazing. Hands down it was some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. I bought two bags while we were there and they were quickly gone once we got back to the states.

After Bisetti, we went to another café and had lucuma milkshakes. Well, everyone else had milkshakes while I just had lucuma juice. It was surprisingly thick and a little chalky. It would make for a great morning meal as it was very filling.

Next, we went to an open air fruit and meat market. This was the part of the tour that I was the most excited about. We got to talk around and look at all of the flowers, fruits, vegetables, and even grain that’s unique to Peru or at least that part of the world.

We stopped at a particular fruit and vegetable stand and our guide, David, showed us all of the different variety of potato that Peru has. I couldn’t remember the number that he said, so I checked online and was told there are XX.

At the fruit stand, David showed us a number of different fruits that the majority of us had never heard of before – and then we got to try them. I was hoping this would happen! We got to try cherimoya (custard apple), aguaymanto (Peruvian cherry), pitahaya (dragon fruit), maracuya (there’s a debate on what this is called in English), there’s another fruit that we had, it was my favorite, but I can’t seem to remember its name and a google search hasn’t helped to refresh my memory. We also tried a small, seedless avocado!      

While there, we also saw some beautiful fish, scallops, and octopus.

Next we went to a restaurant called 41 embar cadero to learn how to make a pisco sour and to take a ceviche class! The pisco sour class was interesting, but the ceviche class was remarkable. The idea of cooking fish in acid has always fascinated me, but I’ve also always been a little nervous about it. That doesn’t really make sense, since I eat sushi, but this class was the first time I’ve ever eaten ceviche and it happened to be mine!

While on this tour, we learned that all of the restaurants in Lima that focused on seafood were only open for lunch. This is to ensure the quality and freshness of the food.

After the classes, we went to Huaca Pucclana and had a tasting menu which was incredible. While on our tour, David told us about a number of traditional Peruvian meals to either look out for, or to go in search of. One of the ones that he mentioned was beef heart. Upon hearing this, I wasn’t too sure how I felt about this. I really love the idea of using an entire animal if you’re going to kill it. It seems only right to use as much of an animal as you can after you took its life for nourishment. But at the same time, it’s a heart. Ah!! Anyway, it was one of the items on our tasting menu so I gathered my courage and has some. It was incredibly tender, which was surprising and full of flavor. I would recommend it. We were too  busy eating the food to take pictures, so all we have from Huaca Pucclana is this beautiful dessert plate.

I’ve never done a tour like this before, but I’ll make a point of it to look for something similar in the future whenever I travel. It was a great way to learn about the city and the food of the city/country.