Eating a Pig in Peru

I feel like all I’m sharing are other’s experiences from our quick visits to all the villages. I hope I’m not boring you all with the details of this Barnabas ministry over these two months!  So, for a nice reprieve, I wanted to share a bit of what really is normal here, but hopefully kinda fun to read about!  First discussion: food. And Peruvians are proud of their food (as they should be).  As much as I freely mock the overabundance of potatoes (2,800 varieties—no kidding), rice, corn and bread, they definitely have legit combinations to add to said starches.  I’ve taken time to reflect on such gastronomic pleasures, realizing the uniqueness found in this country is evidence of a culture not mixed together like our ‘melting pot’ in the States.  I’ve listed a few plates below, and please know that I would love to share a meal together anytime if you’re interested in trying them!

• Lomo Saltadoà a plate to which I am unashamedly biased.  It can be pretty much be summarized as a steak (or chicken) stir-fry (but I almost feel like that irresponsibly simplifies its amazingness) with tomatoes, spicy peppers, onions, and french fries in a juicy sauce all atop a bed of rice. (yes, count it, rice and potatoes together)
• Pachamancaà this one’s from the mountains and is actually cooked in the ground by hot rocks and covered in dirt for a couple of hours—no lie. There’s a meat (beef, chicken, lamb, etc.) combined with a regular potato (or 2), sweet potato, abbas (kind of like a lima bean, but better tasting) and a green sauce for which I have no words. The best I ever had was from a school fundraiser in a tiny village and they used alpaca for the meat. We each paid about $2.50 for the plate.
• Cevicheà please hear me out…  Ceviche is a dish made of raw fish and found mostly on the coast.  They thinly slice the fish, and depending where you are, serve it with onions, sweet potatoes and some form of corn (either on the cob or in a crunchy form called canchita). Its ‘cooked’ with a lime juice mixture called leche de tigre, or tiger’s milk. De-licious.
• Aji de gallinaà this one is pulled chicken mixed with a sauce made from a whole sleeve of soda crackers, a semi-spicy pepper, onions, cheese and milk. Then, that is placed over boiled, sliced potatoes and a side of rice. (yep, rice AND potatoes…)

If anyone is interested, there’s a website where you can find recipes for all these Peruvian dishes: www.yanuq.com  And no worries, there’s an English flag in the top right-hand corner of the page where you can convert the page into English.