Some of my most memorable and favoured dishes in Peru are Arroz con Pollo and Lomo Saltado. They are both very different and very flavourful dishes. Both come from the traditions of Crillola foods - which come from the coast of Peru and both are very filling dishes. 

Arroz con Pollo, like the name suggests is rice with chicken. What I love about this dish however is how moist and flavourful both the rice and chicken are. The rice and chicken are cooked in beer, with a lot of spices, minced carrots, and a ton of coriander. The dish is served hot with a load of cut cold purple onions on the side. This dish for me, reminds me of our Persian dish called Akhni - which is also a rice and often chicken dish that is also moist and made with a lot of spices, but instead of beer adding the moisture it is yogurt, and instead of so much coriander we use a lot more tomato. True comfort food at its best. And like comfort foods, the best I've had has been cooked by a mum at home in Peru. 

Lomo Saltado is arguably one of the most popular dishes in Peru. It can be mediocre or absolutely divine depending on the care and quality of ingredients that go into the dish. It is basically onions and tomatoes cooked together with a fair amount of salt and spice (especially cumin). Then meat is added - a fine cut, cut into strips which soaks up the tomato. Finally all of this is tossed with homemade fresh hot french fries and served with a mound of rice. Super tasty!! The best I've had in Cusco is definitely at the Pariwana hostel cafe and also at The Republic of Pisco - A must try!! 

Ceviche is a fabulous acid cooked fish dish that comes from the coast of Peru. Its become a hot ticket plate recently world-wide, and when people tell me they've tried it and either love it or hate it, all I can say is where did you eat it? And if, 99% of the time, the answer is not Peru, I am sorry, but I just discount that answer. I've had it at a number of locales outside of Peru, and honestly its just not as good.
However, it's just fabulous in Peru, from the markets in Lima, to the the street cart vendors in Mollendo, to the more upscale restaurants or peoples houses in Cusco and Lima. I am sure that in the jungles in Peru they must also have different varieties of Ceviche, that is probably also just amazing. 

Ceviche is basically fresh raw white fish soaked in a great deal of fresh lime juice and chiles. The acid from the lime juice cooks the fish, there are a lot of raw onions cut up into the dish, and then when it is plated, traditionally it comes with white Peruvian corn (choclo) both boiled on the side, and baked with salt and tossed on top. Furthermore it comes with two to three beautifully cooked pieces of sweet potato, and a bit of seaweed on the side. And basically it is the greatest thing ever - fresh, spicy, crunchy, sweet, acidic, amazing for hangovers, chalk full of protein and other nutrients, and basically fat free and filling. 

Though traditionally from Lima, you can find this dish all over Peru, though it really best on the coast! 
My first time having it was actually, at that time, 13 years ago, on an empty beach in Mollendo - now a beach party town - and it was served to me in front of the rolling waves with a big beer. The sun must have been 40 degrees that day, and this was just incredibly fresh and refreshing, and delicious. Whenever I go back to Peru, I must eat ceviche! 

I could go on and on about ceviche, it really is amazing. But instead I'll post a picture :) 

Peruvian food is incredibly complex, tasty, and diverse. It is so much so, much like the cuisine of India. 
Many spices are used, as well as many cooking methods, and unique ingredients. And of course a huge variety going from area to area in Peru. 

Many of the methods of cooking reach far back into the ancient traditional methods of cooking, as do agricultural practices. Interestingly Peruvian farmers or rather Incan agricultural workers cultivated potatoes and tomatoes from being poisonous tubers and berries, into edible ones full of nutrients that are used world wide. And so of course both of these ingredients are also heavily used in their cuisines. Some other foods grown greatly all over Peru and heavily utilized in the diet include:
Vegetables and Grains - quinoa, beans, lentils, nuts, spinach, corn, pumpkin, yuca, sweet potato
Fruits - papaya, pakay, passion fruit (granadilla, maracuya, and more), custard apple, bananas, pineapples, coconut, cacao, lucma 
Spices - mint, muna, cumin, pepper, hot peppers, coriander, curcuma, garlic, ginger, cinnamon 

Ingredients that have a ton of varieties include:
Corn - over 20 different varieties 
Potatoes - over 40 different varieties 
Passion Fruits - over 10 different varieties 
Bananas - over 10 different varieties 

Choclo is the word in Peru for corn - there are many different colours from light yellow to deep black purple, however unlike the sweet yellow small kernelled corn that we get in North America, this corn has got large starchy kernels used in making snacks like popcorn, to breads, and more often than not boiled and eaten with a heavy Andean cheese - Choclo con Queso or made into yellow corn beer called Chicha. The deep purple corn is generally dried out and then boiled with pineapple husks and cinnamon to create a refreshing juice like drink. 

Papas is the word for potatoes. The papas are in many varieties also from the sweet, to the large, the small, the yellow, the purple, the pink, the freeze dried, etc. There are over 42 distinct varieties and they are delicious. Some when boiled become smooth on the inside, others when boiled become almost fluffy and powdery inside. Though often eaten boiled, they are also fire cooked, cut up and fried, mashed, or turned into a fried batter for another vegetable. 

After a year of being in my second home, Peru, I am back in the city from where I come - Calgary. It is familiar and foreign all at once. So this blog post will be rather more self reflective, talking about change, home, and of course the things that were really different to come back to here in Canada.

Changes - I know I've changed, a lot and that is, I suppose, a good thing. I feel like I am more me - more confident, more willing to fail, more willing to not care about thing I couldn't be bothered about. For once I actually feel a bit more mature, but in a way that is more carefree than ever before - if that makes any sense.

Home - The idea of home is tricky, people keep asking if I am glad to be home and it's confusing. There was home; here is home; the world is home. They say that "home is where the heart is" - who is they, and honestly, at least for me my heart is always with me - so technically I am home everywhere. They also say that home is where family is, but what if you've got also a family of non-blood relations - all over the world - scattered - then home is where they all are too. But back to that question of am I happy to be back? - Yes, I am happy everywhere - I will make it work and be happy wherever I end up - I think the bigger question is, is will I stay - and to that... I say... Nothing is constant and that I may always return