On Peruvian food

Cebiche: I was told that it would be a crime, a shameful and unforgivable crime, to leave the country of Peru without having experienced one of the country's most beloved national foods. Cebiche is a dish of raw seafood--fish, shrimp, and stuffed crab in this particular dish--marinated with fresh onion, garlic, cilantro, and lemon juice, all sitting on top of sweet potato, yuca, potato, and my personal favorite: choclos, a type of corn seed that does not pop upon roasting--rather, the inside becomes soft and crunchy, like pop corn, only more savory and a bit saltier.

Over the weekend, one of the NGO workers took me out to experience Peruvian street food--the port of Nanay is alive on Sunday afternoons, with families and friends clustered around tables munching on all sorts of treats. Most of the grilles as you walk along the street are filled with shish-kabob-like delectables--fish or sausage on a skewer, marinated with the senora's individual sauce. I had grilled corn, and sori, a large fruit seed, which is also skewered and grilled to sweet and crunchy perfection. My personal favorite were the dough dumplings--a woman sits with a gigantic vat of dough made from flour, egg, and a bit of sugar, that she forms into a ring and plops into the oil to fry until it is crunchy on the oustide and soft on the inside. The dumplings are covered in fresh honey, and enjoyed while hot and steaming.

And the ice cream and juices. Oh sweet fruits of the amazon--there are the typical flavors--orange, strawberry, banana--but then you have guarana, acerola, camu camu and tens of other fruits that I've never even heard of before. Guarana is one of my favorites--when added to juice, it adds a slightly bitter flavor which perfectly offsets citrus juices such as orange and pineapple.

But then there are other items that require souls far braver than I to try for the first time--I glanced into one of the bins and saw it was filled with pale, fat, juicy grubs, all wriggling and writhing in the water. The senora popped a few out, skewered them, and left them on the grill to meet their demise. Roasted grubs have strong medicinal value and are tasty treats for the locals.

I enjoyed my culinary adventure, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed the cebiche, given that seafood is generally an acquired taste. But I guess that makes it one of the national dishes of Peru with good reason.

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