Blogs from Lima, Lima, Lima, Peru, South America

From Giangi's Kitchen: Origins of tomato soup. It originated in the region of Andalucia in southern Spain. Gazpacho is widely consumed in Spanish cuisine as well as in Portugal. In 1897, Joseph Campbell came out with condensed tomato soup by reducing water in the tin, making it easy and lowering storage and shipping costs. Where did grilled cheese and tomato soup originate? The combination of tomato soup and grilled cheese has been around since WWII when feeding hungry seamen. School lunch programs, after WWII, were added to the menu because of the added vitamin C that it provides. They are flavorful and a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, vitamin K, fiber, beta-carotene, and antioxidants. In a nutshell: a very healthy recipe for all of us. Secret ingredients: Saffron: I added saffron to give it ... read more

On our first day in Chile, our first outing was to experience a Ceviche cooking demonstration followed by lunch at the same location in the upscale Miraflores district, where our hotel was located. The Asnapa Restaurant was just a few minutes walk from the hotel, and the demonstration was performed by the restaurant's Chef. Ceviche is a simple process, needing only five ingredients and a few minutes to be accomplished, and anything additional is to the chef's discretion and taste. Our chef chose fish as the main ingredient, and within a few minutes we were sampling his creation. A larger portion was available as one of the appetizers for our lunch, but I decided to try something different. It was the first of many delicious meals I was to have in Peru, enough so to have ... read more

Dear All Yay! Greetings from Peru! I have arrived safely, and have had an amazing first few days in this magical, mysterious country. On Wednesday early afternoon, I boarded a British Airways flight direct from London Gatwick to Lima, Peru, for what was really quite a long 12-hour journey. I was really very fortunate though, as two people who were sitting in two seats right at the back of the plane, just opposite from me (I had an aisle seat in the middle group of seats) were somehow bumped up a class, leaving their two seats vacant. On what seemed otherwise a full flight, I ended up switching to these two seats, and had them both to myself for the whole 12-hour flight! Perfect! I had no-one behind me (I’m not the most patient of passengers ... read more

Writing this as I pack up to leave Lima. We're flying to Cuzco in the morning. We've been here for 4 days and I've really liked the city. Our OAT tour group under the very able leadership of Raul has started. Only 5 additional people, 4 of them women, and all seem very easy going and friendly. We did go on the big tour bus yesterday to get to Central Lima but we've also traveled on public buses and trams, which has been fun. Buses in Lima always look crowded as are the roads. Too many people for the space in this city. So what did we see and do in Lima these past 2 days? A good bit of sightseeing: Took public bus to Huaca P to see pre Inca ruins. Amazing that this mud ... read more

Sandra from Kaypi Tours met our now expanded group of 22 people at the Hotel Allpa for our included guided tour of Lima. Our bus was late so we began by walking 6 blocks to the Huaca Pucllana Temple built around 2,000 years ago. Lucky for us Sandra used to be a docent here so we ended up with an unexpected private tour. The entrance fee is only $1.80 US per person for senior citizens and since most of us were in that category we were moved in quickly. Little is known about this early culture, but we do know it was built before Machu Picchu by a culture headed by women, the first people of Lima, the Peaceful Lima People. They believed the gods controlled their environment and it is now believed that this place ... read more