Get in my Belly!

No travel journal is complete without the obligatory post about food! Food is one of my favorite things about traveling because I feel it truly encapsulates any culture. You can look at the ingredients and learn about the climate. The cooking process speaks to cultural aspects like gender roles, spiritual rituals, and economy. This blends over in the presentation of the food itself. 
I’m no professional instagram-food-photographer but I’d like to share you some of my favorite culinary experiences. 

The Golden Berry

A simple enough fruit, but I could not get enough of them! Many drinks and sauces were flavored as such, but the fruit itself was my favorite. It tastes like a cherry tomato and kumquat had a baby. I bought a pack of them, but sadly more than half were moldy. Spoiled golden berries have quite the rancid smell with bouquets of stinky feet and bile. So make sure you’re eating fresh ones. 


Pisco Sour + Maiz tostado

(translated : Alcohol and corn nuts)
Pisco is a very iconic alcohol for South America. It’s basically a white brandy with many varieties. Mix some with lime juice, simple syrup and bitters and you’ve got a Pisco Sour! Many hotels will do a Pisco Sour class - I highly recommend attending one. It’s a very educational way to kill an hour before dinner. 

Once I learned about Pisco Chilcano, that became my drink of choice during my travels as that is more ginger ale based and has less sugar. 
Colca Canyon will lead you to the Colca Sour where cactus juice is substituted for lime juice. With the liver benefits of the cactus, there was far less guilt imbibing on these. 

For the non-Alcohol-drinker; first my deepest sympathies, and might I suggest the Chicha Morada. It’s a purple corn-based drink you’ll find everywhere with a sweet but earthy flavor. I quite enjoyed it. 

Corn Nuts. Much kinder on the molars than the jaw-breakers we drown in MSG in the States. These were often served as drink companion snacks and seasoned with oregano. They were also used as ingredients to dishes such aaassss…….

Peruvian Ceviche

Ask anyone who’s had this and I guarantee you they’ll respond, “OMG Chevicheeeeeeeyyyyyy” accompanied with various amounts of drooling. It consists of the aforementioned “corn nuts”, corn kernels, avocado, some kind of seafood - often salmon, and this glorious dressing sauce with just enough tang to not make the fish taste fishy but not like sucking on a lemon. Luckily you’ll never have to hunting for this dish. It’s everywhere. And even not-awesome-ceviche was still tasty. 

On the other end of the spectrum, I also ate the World’s Saddest Sandwich. Please see my separate post for that story. 

The food is absolutely amazing and the only reason my list stops here is because these are the only dishes I remembered to photograph before devouring.