The Fusion Food of Lima, Peru

On June 29, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, South America10 Comments

We had heard a lot about the food of Peru and, more specifically, of Lima. With the praise that has been given by chef’s such as Anthony Bourdain about the vibrant food scene in Lima, we were interested to taste for ourselves what people were talking about. We talked to the concierge at the hotel in order to get the best recommendations and although there are a few places that serve traditional Peruvian food, it is all about fusion. Of the various fusion inspired foods, Asian fusion was the most popular.

For lunch we had some more traditional Peruvian food, enjoying a chicken with a tangy sauce and pickled slaw on a brioche bun. We also had a steak and avocado sandwich with a creamy mustard sauce. Both were served with Peruvian fries, which are a little different than what we’re normally used to, cut thick, breaded and then deep-fried. It was a lot of food, but truly delicious.

For dinner, we took the hotel’s advise and tried some Asian fusion food. Basically, it is utilizing all local and fresh ingredients and using them in non-traditional Asian dishes. We had to have ceviche as we had heard that Peru prepared it better than anyplace else in the world. It was definitely extremely good, but we haven’t had ceviche in enough places to chime in on whether it is as good as the hype that we’d heard about it before we got there. Then we had a beef stir-fry served with an Asian interpretation of a tortilla. Not only did it taste wonderful, with each tortilla having a different combination of ingredients, but it was visually appealing as well. Unfortunately, we only had one night in Lima before travelling on to Bolivia, so we’ll have to go back to try more of the gastronomy of the city.

Taco Salad

On June 22, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes8 Comments

This is definitely more of an American dish than a Mexican dish, but that doesn’t make it any less tasty. You could almost call it a “nacho salad” instead of a taco salad since we used tortilla chips instead of deep-frying a flour tortilla to make a bowl as most restaurants do. You could just as easily do this with shredded chicken or beef instead of ground beef, it all depends on what you have available. It is also such a simple dish that it makes for a great weeknight dinner. There are all sorts of options to change this up, such as using flavored tortilla chips, doing the deep-fried flour bowl, or leaving the chips out completely for a healthier version. Enjoy.

Ingredients

1 lb Lean Ground Beef
6 tbsp Taco Seasoning
3/4 cup Water
1 Tomato – diced
1/2 Jalapeno Pepper – seeds removed and diced
1/2 Poblano Pepper – diced
1/4 Yellow Onion – diced
1/2 cup Shredded Cheese (Mexican Blend, Cheddar, Colby Jack, etc.)
Shredded Lettuce
1/4 cup Sour Cream (optional)
Sriracha Sauce to taste

Instructions

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat. Add the water and stir in the taco seasoning and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce thickens. If desired, heat the tortilla chips in an oven at 325 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes, just to get them warm. Assemble the salad by adding the chips to a plate or bowl, the ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, and onion. Drizzle with sriracha and add the sour cream.

The Food of Cochabamba

On June 1, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, South America6 Comments

We didn’t have any preconceptions about the food of Bolivia or, in this case, specifically of Cochabamba. We had heard about Pique Macho, but didn’t know exactly what it was. What we discovered is that meals in Cochabamba were larger than we expected. Not just the Pique Macho, which is known to be a huge plate of food, but every meal that we were served were huge portions. The other thing we found was that every meal was served with an extremely spicy salsa, which is eaten on garlic bread as well as over top of the meal itself.

We ordered a half order of the Pique Macho to share and still weren’t able to eat the whole meal. Almost every meal included potatoes, usually cooked as French fries, and sometimes it would include both potatoes and rice. We like to share meals anyway, but we found that we couldn’t finish almost any meal while we were in Cochabamba. Later, when we went to La Paz, we found that the size of the meals and the quantity of food eaten in Cochabamba was larger than in other parts of the country. They are extremely proud that all of the food is locally grown and Cochabamba is considered the gastronomical center of Bolivia. Unlike Peru where fusion food is everywhere, Bolivia seemed to just beginning to embrace fusion food to raise the bar of traditional Bolivian food.

We also found that Bolivia produced pretty good local beer and wine. We always want to enjoy as much of local and traditional food and we definitely ate some interesting meals. We did a ton of walking while we were in Bolivia, which probably was good since the meals were so heavy. At some point we’re going to try and make our own version of Pique Macho here at home, but clearly not as large of a portion. It is basically a pretty simple dish of beef, hot dogs (sausages), tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, and in some cases boiled eggs. Despite the fact that it is considered a traditional Bolivian dish, we saw it prepared differently at various restaurants, so it seems that it is more of style than a very specific dish.