Just like the country itself, Peruvian food is a mix of different things and different flavors. It is often a juxtaposition of things you wouldn’t think would work together, starchy and spicy, rich and tart, robust and delicate. Apart from the fantastic sights and experiences in the country, Peruvian food is an experience all to itself. When you find yourself in one of the many restaurants in Lima, Peru these are the dishes you really need to try.

1. Just like the country itself, Peruvian food is a mix
of different things and different flavours. It is
often a juxtaposition of things you wouldn’t think
would work together, starchy and spicy, rich and
tart, robust and delicate. Apart from the fantastic
sights and experiences in the country, Peruvian
food is an experience all to itself. When you find
yourself in one of the many restaurants in Lima,
Peru these are the dishes you really need to try.

3. This is a given. Nothing says Peruvian cuisine like
ceviche. While chefs and cooks the world over have
added their own twists to the dish, authentic
Peruvian ceviche is essentially made up of 5
ingredients: sea bass, lime juice, salt, onion and aji
chili. The fish is marinated in the acidic mix for just
minutes, firming up the flesh of the fish without
actually cooking it with the acid. An oddly perfect
side to the dish is sweet potato. You wouldn’t
expect it, but the sweet potato is the perfect starch
to pair with the dish. Like most boutique hotels
Lima hotels will most likely have a version of this, so
you can start from there.

5. There is plain old rotisserie chicken and then there’s
Pollo A La Brasa. There’s nothing like roasted
Peruvian Chicken. The recipe starts simply enough.
Chicken is rubbed with a pungent mix of garlic,
herbs and spices and left to marinade for a couple
of hours. It is then roasted like you would a
rotisserie chicken. What sets Pollo A La Brasa apart
from your regular supermarket rotisserie chicken is
the green huacatay (Peruvian black mint) sauce that
often comes with it. Every family has its own heavily
guarded recipe and roasted chicken will never be
the same after Pollo A La Brasa.

7. Lomo Saltado or stir-fried beef is the perfect
marriage between Chinese cooking techniques
and Peruvian flavours. You wouldn’t think that
Chinese influence would reach as far as Peru but
Peruvian food is actually heavily influenced by
Chinese flavors and cooking techniques. Lomo
Saltado actually uses soy sauce to marinate the
meat.

9. This recipe doesn’t seem like such a hot idea at
first. It’s just basically potatoes in cheese sauce.
But the heat from the aji chili, the complex
saltiness from both the queso fresco and the
saltine crackers lend this cheese sauce a
complex flavor that you wouldn’t expect from
such a homely dish. Like most Peruvian boutique
hotels in Lima will likely also have this
ubiquitous dish served with all of their meals.

11. Aji de Gallina is the meat-lover’s version of Papas A
La Huancaina. Meat is cooked in a rich and velvety
stew made of condensed milk, aji chili and
thickened with white bread sans crust.

12. Anticuchos de Corazaon translates to grilled hearts.
Most western tourists will turn their noses at the
dish but they don’t know what they’re missing.
Leaner than filet mignon but with more robust
flavours than a rib-eye the ferric after taste can take
a little getting used to. But the flavour is deep and
rich and when that open fire kisses the meat,
there’s nothing like it.

14. I saved this for last because even I was a little
taken aback by the dish. Cuy is Peruvian for
guinea pig, roasted guinea pig to be exact. To
me, guinea pigs are more like pets than dinner
so I had a little bit of a hard time with this. But
the meat was succulent and gamey and the skin
was a lot like pork crackling. Once you get over
the initial shock of what Cuy actually is, you
might be able to actually enjoy it.