docsconz

Doc, I can safely say that Cuy is not for me and I think your youngest may ask what cuisine that he can expect on future family outings. Did you see the preparation from whisker to plate?? What wine pairing was suggested with the Cuy ? Thankfully, you missed the headshots...will this be a dish that you will make at home ? My friend, you are a true gourmand...not sure what else to say other than that. Nevertheless, the trip looked great and your kids are lucky to have parents that will let them experience a WIDE range of things. I do have a suggestion for a place to take the family for dinner next time you make it to the city...Next Family Dinner Hot Spot For The Sconzos Molto E ← Eliot, Given that you enjoy things like this tuna head: as evidenced in this fine post, I'm surprised that you would be so squeamish! Seriously, I don't expect my kids to eat everything, but I do try to expose them to different culinary possibilities and to try to minimize any prejudices they may develop about food.

Somehow, that name evokes Korean Chap Chae , a sort of chop suey. Could there be an Asian, particularly Korean influence on Peruvian cuisine? ← There clearly are strong Asian influences in contemporary Peruvian cuisine with Chinese and Japanese foremost based on large imigration late in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Chinese-Peruvian food is extremely popular all over Peru and served in restaurants called "chifas". Even outside of the chifas, the influence can be seen in basic Peruvian restaurants, especially in dishes such as lomo saltado or sauteed beef loin. Japanese influence is strong as well. For example, along with the native ceviche, "tiradito" is a style of serving and eating raw fish that combines the Peruvian technique of ceviche with Japanese sashimi techniques. As for Korean, I am not aware of any particularly strong influence, though it wouldn't surprise me. Your observation is very interesting though this dish did not have noodles. ← I have read an article about Chinese-Pervian restaurant a several of years ago. The word "chifas" is actually derived from chi-fan or zhi-fan which means "to eat" or "eat rice". ← Makes sense. Thanks for sharing it.

Somehow, that name evokes Korean Chap Chae , a sort of chop suey. Could there be an Asian, particularly Korean influence on Peruvian cuisine? ← There clearly are strong Asian influences in contemporary Peruvian cuisine with Chinese and Japanese foremost based on large imigration late in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Chinese-Peruvian food is extremely popular all over Peru and served in restaurants called "chifas". Even outside of the chifas, the influence can be seen in basic Peruvian restaurants, especially in dishes such as lomo saltado or sauteed beef loin. Japanese influence is strong as well. For example, along with the native ceviche, "tiradito" is a style of serving and eating raw fish that combines the Peruvian technique of ceviche with Japanese sashimi techniques. As for Korean, I am not aware of any particularly strong influence, though it wouldn't surprise me. Your observation is very interesting though this dish did not have noodles. ← I have read an article about Chinese-Pervian restaurant a several of years ago. The word "chifas" is actually derived from chi-fan or zhi-fan which means "to eat" or "eat rice". ← It's 'chi'. Docsconz, I'm really enjoying your posts. Another place to add to my list of places to go. ← Milady, I'm glad that you are enjoying this report. I know the feeling about a list of places to go. There are so many places that I want to go. If only money and time were not issues! Not knowing what the future holds, I am doing my best to get to as many of them as I can while I can enjoy them.

I probably should have issued a warning for the paw shot The cuy is parboiled to remove the fur much the way feathers are removed from some avian carcasses. The skin is left on for the roasting. It, along with the head are considered particular delicacies. Our guide and driver went to town with the heads that came out. I tried it, but it involved a little too much gnawing for me to really enjoy it. By that time I was pretty full too. My sense is that it is a bit of an acquired taste.

Turron is a wonderful little treat. I will be in Alicante this spring (a direct result of the CIA's World of Flavor Conference) and will certainly try some turrones there. Unfortunately, I don't think that I will have the time to make it to the museum . Judith, your dessert looks delicious!

Looks very promising. Any idea when they are likely to open in the spring? We'll have to try some. I can think of a little girl who is likely going to be very happy with this development.

Now that we are back, I want to make a point of finding some good Peruvian food here in the states. One place I really want to get to is Cucharamama in New Jersey.

Chinchero After our chicha experience we headed up to the mountain town of Chinchero. This town is located in prime Sacred Valley agricultural territory as it broaened out from the valley to relatively flat arable land with lots growing on it. The purpose of our visit was essentially three fold. First was for a demonstration of native weaving and its techniques. Second was lunch and third was a visit to the Spanish colonial center. This is Ms. Marleni, our hostess in Chinchero, who put together a truly beautiful and amazing local textile demonstration for us. We ultimately left quite a bit lighter in the pockets. She also put together a pretty nice lunch for us after the weaving demonstration. In the photo above she is showing us cochinilla, insects used for making red-based dyes. She, her family and her friends went through the entire process with us. House made Queso Fresco. By the time I took the photo most of it had been eaten. We also snacked on some of the "popcorn." Corn soup. This soup was also laden with the queso fresco. It was quite delicious and satisfying. Andean "tortillas" made with corn and tarwi. Delicious. Rocotos Rellenos. I loved these things, but one did have to be careful of olive pits inside! Choclo or corn on the cob. This was not as flavorful as some I've had. Herb and pepper salsa useful as a condiment from soup to nuts. Here it is, Eliot Roasted cuy and potatoes. Cuy detail. Plated cuy and potatoes. The heads were served separately and are considered a particular delicacy. I did try a head in addition to the body, though somehow I failed to photograph them. The cuy was ok, though it was a fair amount of effort to get the meat off the bones. The preparation contained a fairly strong herbal component that I felt somewhat overwhelmed the meat. The skin was good though somewhat rubbery rather than crispy as I had hoped. The inside of the servings also contained various offal. The kidneys were particularly good. I did not get a liver in my half, but No.1 son, enjoyed the one that he had. No. 2 son ate his half, but No. 3 initially refused, eventually relenting to taste it. He did not eat more than that, but was a good sport and ate well of the rest of the meal. My wife ate hers, but this was not really her favorite either. My family at the lunch table. A view of the surrounding Chinchero countryside on the ride home.

You will have fun! The altitude can be a proble, though the coca tea was a real help (even if it might have been only a placebo! ) There's a lot more to come. I hope I don't spoil it for you!

David, that's a hoot! I'm sure that we were not the first nor will we be the last. It was a cool place, though. I enjoyed your photos as well. Seems like we had somewhat similar experiences. Having a Qechua speaker certainly helps for doing it solo. I'm sure that you will be able to reminisce a little more as i continue this report!

Culinary activities are pretty broadly defined, and it's doing them while traveling that counts, not doing the traveling because of the culinary activity. Lots of people travel to Florida. If you stop at a roadside market while you're in Florida, are you then a culinary traveler? I'd be interested in seeing how the location percentages compare to leisure travel in general. ← Good points, Tammy. Obviously many tourists visit Florida. Many of those tourists also like to "dine out for a unique and memorable experience." For many of those tourists, just dining out is a unique and memorable experience. I'm sure that there are many restaurants in Florida, especially in the tourist centers that adequately meet that point for most of the travelers who go there. I would doubt very much though that there are many at all, who go to Florida specifically to eat in certain restaurants or to eat a particular cuisine as their primary reasons for going. Florida does have some fine culinary attributes, but overall as a culinary destination it is my experience and sense that it pales compared to many other such destinations in the US and elsewhere.

Chicha On our way out of Ollantaytambo we stopped at a Chicharia called Aj'a Huasi or Inca Bar. While there we learned to play an Andean bar game called Sapo, which means frog in Spanish. There is a table set against a wall. The table has a number of slots on top and a drawer underneath. Also on top of the table is a brass frog with a slotted mouth. The object is to toss coins at the frog, ideally putting them through the mouth slot into the highest scoring pocket. The other slots all have scores associated with them as well. It is not an easy game sober. I can only imagine how difficult it must get after a couple of pints of chicha de jora! What is chicha? Practically speaking it is a native, ancient version of beer that is most typically made from corn. The corn kernels are left to germinate, then once germinated the corn becomes "jora" they have the malt sugars extracted after a drying process (usually by having been left in the sun) by mashing and soaking. The mash is boiled for three hours and then it is left to ferment for several days generally in a large earthenware pot. Chichas can be made from any number of plants including quinoa, wheat, barley, and even garbanzos. In addition other juices can be added such as macerated strawberries. The alcohol level of chichas tends to be low. Chicha Morada is a non-alchoholic chicha made from blue corn and pineapple. A sampling of different varieties of corn available in Peru. Germinated corn kernels used to make chicha. The boiled mash is drained into an earthenware pot for fermentation. The mash. Making chicha is generally done by women. Our guide, Julio, explaining the process, with a glass of chicha de jora on the table. Our hostess serving a frutillada, a chicha with macerated strawberries added that is very popular in the Cusco area. A glass of the frutillada. The powder on top is ground coriander. The flavored chicha was used to follow the regular chicha. Both were actually quite tasty. The strawberry frutillada was particularly popular with the rest of the family as each of us drained several glasses. So that we wouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach, we were given Andean "popcorn" or cancha to nibble on. These crisp, toasted kernels reminded me of "corn nuts" at home. They were very addictive. Still life with chuño, maize, rocotos and tomates de arbol. Chuños close-up. Tomates de arbol or sacha tomate look like tomatoes, but they are a native tree-born fruit that supposedly has a piquant flavor to it. Unfortunately, I did not knowingly try any of these during our visit. Rocotos and Sacha tomates.

← Wow. My head is spinning at the thought of how long it might have taken for this process to evolve. This entire blog is great reading, thanks. ← Thanks. I was thinking about that myself. How did this process develop? Was it an accident? Amazing. I didd get to try some of this later on in the trip. I will leave my impressions on it until I get to that point though.

I particularly appreciated that the cuy were free-range! ← LOL!!! Did you find that many people spoke english or mainly just spanish? Can you talk about what you got out of doing an organized tour vs going on your own? ← English is fairly widely spoken, especially in the cities and around Macchu Picchu. In addition, we speak decent Spanish so that wasn't a problem in most places. In the Altiplano by Lake Titicaca we could get by with Spanish, but Kechua and Aymara - the native languages were much more ubiquitous. In any case, it was never an issue even there as our guides spoke Kechua, which leads into your next question. While we did not go on a group tour, I arranged our itinerary, transportation and private guides through Vaya Adventures. There is no way that we could have done many of the things that we did, going entirely on our own. some trips in some countries I am very comfortable going entirely solo and feel that I can get good value that way. My wife and i will be returning to Spain this spring and I am planning the trip by myself including advice from friends. I find though that it is hard to beat planning a trip to somewhere one has never been with the help of a good guide. That worked great for me in South Africa and again here. Of course, I like to do my research on food and places to eat, though. I also like small group trips, especially those from Viking/CIA Worlds of Flavor and others such as Peggy Markel's Culinary Adventures, which have been fabulous.

Patience my friend.

And while you were enjoying the Passard dinner I was trying to choose one of the wonderful dining options on wolf road. Sounds wonderful and wish I was there. ← Hopefully you were not aware of this dinner at the time. That would have made it doubly painful! That menu sounds amazing. If the food was not incredible enough and I believe that it was - the wines themselves would have been enough to make that an incredible evening.

Thanks, Caarina. I hope to have time to get to the next installment a bit later today. It involves a stop at a chicharia.

I particularly appreciated that the cuy were free-range!

I thought Blais was back in Atlanta, things not having worked out in Miami. ← He may be. As far as cooking in a restaurant, I am not aware of it if he is, but if and where, that is a place that will go on my list for food traveling as his cuisine is one that I very much would like to try.

There is no doubt that those who happen to travel to Florida or live there already can eat well. The state certainly has very good restaurants - but restaurants or food that people specifically travel to Florida for? Richard Blais and Norman Van Aken are two chefs who I would seek out, but I believe Blais is not currently running a restaurant.

I can't believe that I am not going to be able to get there soon! Eliot, I don't know how, but you continue to outdo yourself. Great shots and mouth-watering descriptions. The bluefin head is something else!

Hi Tillie, Is this really any different than it ever was? Some restaurants provide excellent service, some mediocre and some poor. So far as I can recall from my almost 30 years of dining in restaurants that has always been so. I will tolerate some restaurants with less than stellar service if the food is that good, however, I generally don't tolerate or return to restaurants with poor service.

As mid May is two months away, I think you will have a good chance of getting a table on the weekend. Although you may have try a couple times, it is pretty easy to get through to talk to someone to make a reservation. If the date and time that you wish to make your reservation is already booked, you go on a list where you get contacted if someone cancels. IMHO, pretty easy and painless.Note to self: May is the anniversary month for the restaurant. If it ends up like last year, they may do something special, although I have not officially heard anything as of yet. ← 8:45 on a Friday night. A veritable breeze compared to TFL. The reservationist asked some very good questions. I am thrilled, as the whole trip was based on eating there. I have been to Chicago before and done Tru several times and Blackbird once. I thought that Blackbird was the cat's ass and would go back in a second. As I said, Alinea is the reason for the trip but would love some other suggestions as our Saturday is wide open at this point. FEED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! ← I'm not sure which Friday night you will be going, but if it happens to be Friday, May 4th, that is the actual anniversary of the restaurant. It turns two. Some day, I will have to dine there on that night.

I have been noticing Liberte' goat's milk yogurt in my local supermarket recently. It's pretty good.

There's an interesting story in there (one I'm not qualified to write) that could trace the food of Peru back through the Japanese emmigration to Japan in the 20th century (remember, Fujimori was head of state of Peru until 2000(?) and then fled for Japan where he was granted citizenship. Peru was one of the areas that saw large Japanese immigration, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that they brought with them the tastes of Empire, particularly from Korea, which they had taken control of back in the 1890s, and China, which they took over some time later. It'd be a fascinating story to trace. ← That would be interesting to trace not just direct Japanese influence, but what else they may have brought. While those Japanese that emigrated to Peru were not likely, I think, to bring much beyond their own local traditions given that they emigrated for purposes of economic opportunity, it is conceivable that some Koreans when under the banner of Japan may have made the migration and brought some of their own customs and influences.