In a book called The White Rock, Hugh Thomson, a British explorer and documentary filmmaker, offers an engrossing account of his journeys in Peru, especially among remote Inca sites near Cuzco. This is more than a travel book. Along the way, he offers insights and opinions on all sorts of subjects, including Hiram Bingham, who is often credited with “discovering” Machu Picchu, and Martin Chambi, who gave the world some of the greatest photographs of that very place. (Bingham comes across as a consummate marketer whose genius lay in telling good stories and finding North American sponsors.)
Thomson also weighs in on food: “No one would ever claim . . . that Peruvian cuisine was a particularly fine one. It relied too heavily on cheap meat and quick frying for that, with plenty of rice, potatoes and bread as starch. It was a favorite fantasy — what if the French or Italians had colonised South America?”
This gentle slam against Peruvian kitchens surprised me. Yes, I had heard that meals often consist of both potatoes and rice, and then a portion of meat or fish. But I also had the impression that Peruvian food is getting long overdue attention from culinary explorers at home and downtown, and that it’s climbing up the charts. Here’s some anecdotal supporting evidence.
Exhibit one: My mother-in-law recently made quinoa and pecan salad with dried cranberries. The heart of the salad, quinoa, comes from the Andean region (Peru is the top producer, besting Bolivia and Ecuador). Once cooked, quinoa is soft, like rice or couscous , and high in protein and fiber. The Spanish colonists apparently dismissed the indigenous grain as beneath them, but it was their loss. You can find dozens of quinoa recipes in www.healthwell.com, including one for pecan salad with dried cranberries.
Exhibit two: Last July, Michael T. Luongo of The New York Times filed a restaurant review from Buenos Aires in which he said that Argentinians were discovering traditional foods. “The food of the Incas, a 15th- and 16th-century empire that once stretched into modern Argentina, is finding new panache.” He mentioned quinoa and amaranta. Quinoa was even featured in a fancy dessert: “a mandarin orange stuffed with the nutty grain and sunflowers, drenched with honey and topped with a flower petal garnish.”
Exhibit three: On a recent trip to New York City, we walked by several new Peruvian restaurants. And at the Blue Gill in downtown Goshen, one of the best dishes on the menu is ceviche, a marinated seafood salad served with lots of cilantro and avocado in a tortilla shell. Peru lays claim to having created this dish (Chileans beg to disagree) in which the fish cooks without a flame.
In three weeks, we’ll have our first look at a Peruvian menu, in Peru.
