You've tried Peru's superb roast chicken and perhaps even sampled a tiradito or two. Now it's time to dig into one of their most celebrated spud dishes. What is causa? Causa, also called causa rellena, is a Peruvian mashed potato terrine that's simple, filling and makes excellent use of Peru's potato bounty. If you think that sounds like the…
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Talking to Nova Scotia-based musician, actor and "Trippin' With Leigh" documentary filmmaker Leigh Macinnis is a bit of a trip in itself.
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The refreshing Mexican Michelada is essentially a simple blend of beer, lime, salt, hot sauce and an umami seasoning of either Worcestershire sauce or Maggi. The cocktail is Mexican in origin, but most countries throughout South America have their own takes. Now, the Llama Inn in Brooklyn, New York, has introduced a Peruvian influence to the Michelada just in time for…
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Latin America’s influence on cocktails has resulted in numerous iconic inventions, with one of the more overlooked classics being the pisco sour. Though the drink is often made with lime, many hold that the pisco sour is properly made with lemon, hence its arguable lineage from either the whiskey sour or the silver fizz. As…
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Native to the Andean region in Peru, the sacha tomate is high in potassium and vitamins A and C. [/caption] Most of us who eat and travel for a living taste a lot of unusual foods — if you could even call some of them that (tarantulas, anyone?). Given my particular love for far-flung, out-of-the-way…
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Lima-born chef Diego Oka travels the world, cooks for the hungry masses and spreads the word about delicious Peruvian food. Not a bad gig. Perhaps you are familiar with the country's famous roast chickens, bright sauces, goat cheese-spiked huancaina sauce and ceviche as far as the eye can see? Peruvian cuisine is recognizably Latin American, with…
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Ceviche: a classic Central and South American dish of fresh seafood that's been "cooked" by citrus juice. We all know it, and I'm pretty sure we all love it. If you don't love ceviche, what are you doing on a food website? And have you heard of tiradito, your new best friend? Peru may not…
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[caption id="attachment_74179" align="alignnone" width="700" ] Shiso bulgogi pork belly skewers sold out within hours at the Mrs. Pound pop-up in Hong Kong earlier this summer.[/caption] What a long, strange summer it’s been. Ivan Ramen and Mario Batali elevated food courts in New York and Chicago. The vegetable revolution conquered tasting menus and converted carnivores. And,…
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Until last year, I had only been to a handful of Peruvian restaurants. Most were the casual, rotisserie chicken type — Peruvians make a mean roast chicken — but it wasn’t until last year that I started hearing about more upscale Peruvian restaurants in destination cities worldwide. Despite Peruvian cuisine coming into its own as…
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Until last year, I had only been to a handful of Peruvian restaurants. Most were the casual, rotisserie chicken type — Peruvians make a mean roast chicken — but it wasn’t until last year that I started hearing about more upscale Peruvian restaurants. While visiting London, a friend scored a table at Lima London, which…
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Food writer and recipe developer Francoise Villeneuve has been researching Peruvian food for an upcoming story and threw us her own formula for alfajores, caramel sandwich cookies that pair perfectly with Peruvian coffee. My favorite Peruvian cookies are alfajores, vanilla cookies sandwiched with manjar blanco (Peruvian Dulce de Leche). Sometimes shredded coconut is pressed into…
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Pisco is a clear grape brandy that most people recognize as the main ingredient in a pisco sour, a cocktail created nearly a century ago when an American bartender working in Peru allegedly ran out of whiskey for a whiskey sour and decided to use the local moonshine instead. Pisco is also a small, sleepy…
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We’ve been on a serious Los Angeles kick today. This morning we dropped an interview with the great downtown bar and restaurant pioneer Cedd Moses from The Varnish and Seven Grand, among other places. Next, we dropped a we-like-you-more-than-a-friend letter to the downtown restaurant scene, shouting out places like The Parish, Bäco Mercat, Handsome Coffee…
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Each year, tens of thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The experience has been likened to a religious pilgrimage, a four-day hike that ends when you come upon the Lost City of the Incas, a magnificent sanctuary of pre-Columbia ruins. But you don’t have to make the trek all the way…
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When Miami's Meat Market opened on Lincoln Road a few years back, food fanatics could be forgiven for thinking that the emphasis would be less filet mignon, more hot models. As it turns out, the emphasis was on both. The buzzing steakhouse and seafood spot attracts one of the most aesthetically appealing crowds in glam…
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With the opening of La Mar Cebichería, in the iconic Tabla space just off New York’s Madison Square Park, the 44-year-old Acurio is banking that Americans will give Peruvian cooking, specially the cebicheria, a shot. (A San Francisco location of the growing chain, which is also in Lima, Mexico City and Madrid, has proven wildly…
Read MoreThis newcomer took home the “Gran Medalla de Oro” or Best in Show at the Grand Championships held annually in Lima, Peru. The cuvee of small-batch varietals of Quebranta, Torontel, Moscatel and Italia grapes is handcrafted in the Ica Valley. Campo de Encanto was founded by a wholly unique San Francisco-based partnership of Master Mixologist…
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