Want Culture? Cook!

Food is one of the most important facets of any culture. And Peru has some truly wonderful food. Fish and seafood. Asian fusion. Exotic jungle cuisine. Thousands of types of potato. Amazing sauces. It is a place where it is not hard, or expensive, to eat very well. Last week I decided to take a bit of time out of my normal work week to learn how to make some of the classic Peruvian dishes.

It was not hard to find Sky Kitchen (www.skykitchen.pe). They were ranked at the top of Tripadvisor for food tours and cooking classes. I got in touch with them to see if they had room for one student in any of their upcoming "Peruvian classics" lunch classes. They did, and I signed up.

Their place is within a long walk of our apartment. They are located in a residential apartment building, occupying a penthouse location with a large area for cooking and a rooftop terrace. A lovely space. Most of the other students were there when I arrived. A couple from Australia on a western hemisphere tour. A couple others from the U.S. A nice group.

  

Our prep table at Sky Kitchen

The Peruvian classics class consists of preparing four classic Peruvian courses. We started by doing some basic prep work for some of the later courses, and then started in earnest on the appetizer - a causa, which consists of layers of lime-aji potatoes, avocado, and chicken (or pretty much whatever else you want. It is not terribly difficult to make, and I think mine turned out pretty well:

My causa

We paused to eat the causa, then started in on ceviche. Ceviche has become more common in North America, but is still unknown to many. It can be made with basically any fish or seafood. In essence, ceviche is seafood, quickly marinated in citrus (usually tart lime) and pepper with onions. And then riff on that. 

We made ours with corvina, a fish similar to what we call sea bass in the United States. It is sea bass, but a slightly different species than what we usually eat in the north. The key to good ceviche is very fresh seafood, and that is not too hard to come by in Lima. Step one was to cut some strips of flash-frozen fish (frozen to kill any dangerous parasites) and then cube those strips. We then juiced a couple of limes per person, added some very hot pepper paste, a good deal of salt, a pinch of pepper, some thinly cut onions, and added the fish to the marinade. You do not stir the fish very much. It will lose its firm texture if you do that. It marinates for just 5 or 10 minutes, and you can see the acid of the limes change the color and texture of the fish, "cooking" it in some sense. Classic ceviche also comes with slices of sweet potato and large-kernel corn called choclo. It's very starchy, not sweet at all, and is ubiquitous here. Here is the finished dish, which we made short work of:

Ceviche

Next up is one of the most common dishes on restaurant menus in Peru - lomo saltado. This dish is a result of Chinese and Peruvian fusion. Many Chinese came to Peru in the 1800s seeking work. They quickly integrated into Peruvian culture and also had an influence on Peruvians. This dish has soy sauce and is stir-fried. Stir-frying is a very un-Peruvian way of cooking. Many of the old Peruvian dishes are cooked for hours in a hole in the ground - literally. Quite the opposite of stir-frying. The Chinese influence on Peruvian cuisine is so pervasive that many Peruvians are completely unaware that this classic dish is largely Chinese.

You start with thinly sliced strips of beef. We used tenderloin, as beef in Peru tends to be on the tough side. In the U.S. I would say sirloin or maybe even a flank steak would work. You quickly flash fry the meat in oil, then remove the meat. Add quartered onions and quartered fresh tomatoes. Also soy sauce and some vinegar, and a bit of red wine and something sweet. Stir fry for a few minutes. Add back the meat to warm through. Serve with rich and french fries. Simple, and delicious, and great with a nice bottle of Chilean Syrah. (I was fortunate to find a friend in the class who brought some prosecco, which we drank with the ceviche while we drank my bottle with the lomo.)

Lomo saltado

The whole experience made for a very enjoyable lunch. My newfound friend and I even made a trip to the wine store where I found my bottle of red. We decided we needed to make a few more purchases. They had a great deal on Marques de Casa Concha, all varietals, that was half off what these bottles cost in most stores here. The sale was in honor of Father's Day month. The class and the wine certainly made this dad very happy. 

Here is the moral of the story. Don't pass up opportunities to learn how to cook in other countries. Cheers!