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Peruvian Food, Peru Food, Peruvian Cuisine
The Many Flavors of Peruvian Food
Peruvian food has
achieved fame
through culinary magazines and travel
magazines. Their efforts have certainly paid off.
Peru
has consistently placed at or near the top of major travel magazines
for culinary destinations. |
The Peruvians have perfected the preparation of many different kinds of
foods including, but certainly not limited to all sorts of fishes and
shellfish, duck, lamb, pork, hundreds of vegetables and many thick,
rich sauces.
On this page
you will find:
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Peruvian
Food - Endless Variety
TravelingMan
via Flickr CC
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One of the reasons the original
Inca
Civilization of Peru was able to survive in the Pre-HIspanic
times was attributed to their mastery of storing
plenty of food in store houses.
Myth has it that they had enough food stored to feed their people for
as
many as seven years without a single soul going hungry.
From slating
meat to dry in the brightest sun,
to quickly freezing foods during the coldest of nights, the Incas were
able to save everything they grew and it was certainly an art form.
Peruvian
Cuisine
Very
few things have changed since then. Peruvian food has quickly
become a favorite of travelers from around the globe. People everywhere
seem to love the Peruvian cuisine creations.
Fans of Peru food flock
to Peruvian menus for the most tantalizing treats.
Peru
foods include such things as corn (maize), chicken,
seafood,
guinea
pig, plantains, several hundred varieties of potatoes, and many other
vegetables.
On Peruvian Cuisine -
"Two
of my favorite dishes of Peruvian food are ceviche and quinoa. Both use
foods that are plentiful in Peru and have been for thousands of years
part of their traditional cuisine.
"The most
fabulous advantage of quinoa is that it is an easy to prepare protein
and goes perfectly as a side dish.
"Ceviche is
filled with the rich flavors of fish and shellfish marinated in a tangy
citrus flavor."
Marcela
H on Latin Cooking from
Hispanic Culture Online.
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Peruvian cuisine is
famous for its soups and stews (like the savory
pork adobo
recipes)
that are filled with vegetables and meat. They like to use many
colorful and
flavorful foods and herbs to create the broth for theser delectable
soups.
Having easy access to the
ocean,
the original Peruvian tribes were able to make many dishes from fish,
seafood,
and even algae. There were also feasts made from specially
prepared dolphin and sea lions.
The inhabitants of coastal
Peru learned to use algae both fresh as a preservative and
dried
as a sweet herb. The blue alga was sweet enough to be dried, crushed
and used like granulated sugar.
Carrots, corn and chili
peppers were used in many of their favorite dishes. Yellow
peppers were used to add color to their foods and for flavor.
Specialty
Foods
Initially only the nobles
were allowed to partake in meals containing
alpacas. The common
people were allowed to feast on
Guinea
pigs.
According to the nobles the alpacas had to be at least three years old
before they could be consumed, but since Guinea pigs multiplied so
rapidly they were much more plentiful.
Guinea pigs are still
served today, called Cuy, and they are prepared both fried
and baked.
Only the Emperor and his
closest family members were allowed fresh fish and wild duck.
These dishes are all incorporated in current Peruvian cuisine. Peruvian
cuisine is famous for the wonderful ways these foods are prepared.
Lima
- Cuisine Capital of the Western Hemisphere
It has taken generations for the Peruvian
people to fine tune their culinary creations, and it has certainly paid
off for them. Their dedication to the culinary arts has allowed
Peruvian cuisine to receive recognition from some world renowned food
critics.
Of course Peruvian cuisine has adapted some
dishes as time has passed, but Peruvian chefs are very artful in
preparing seafood, fruits, and vegetables. They have also incorporated
some of the techniques from Italy and some from the Spanish.
Modern-day
Peruvian food artists have worked to meld the flavors of many types of
cuisine to create their own award winning Peruvian foods.
Have A Great Peruvian
Recipe?
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addicts)!
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