Eating Peru

Our Christmas Eve dinner "theme" this year was Peru.  An odd choice, maybe, seeing as we are not Peruvian by any stretch of the imagination.  Our loose connection to Peru is really through travel.  A couple of years ago, my mother went on a trip to Peru with my Uncle Gordon.  This was no ordinary vacation though.  My uncle is a pilot, and uses his accumulated FedEx vacation time to volunteer for Orbis, a flying eye hospital.  Their mission involves bringing cutting edge surgeries/surgeons to poverty stricken countries so that sight can be restored for those afflicted with treatable disease.  This particular trip, he took my mother.  She had the chance to see a few cities in Peru, most notably from a real-world perspective, not just the tourist face.  She brought home great memories, beautiful pictures, and a few trinkets.  Among these items was a leather-enrobed bottle of Pisco, Peru's claim to fame in the liquor department.  Since her return, that bottle has sat untouched, waiting for an appropriate use.  I can happily say, we found one!

As for our Christmas Eve multi-cultural tradition, it goes back quite a few years now.  In an effort to establish a unique tradition for my family, the nationality meal was born.  Early in the evolution we had fun, loosely constructed themes, such as American Italian (wedding soup and spaghetti with red sauce), Pittsburgh theme (homemade Primanti sandwiches with fresh cut fries and slaw right on the corned beef sandwich), and a pretty generic Mexican theme.  But as time went by, and younger family members became more adventuresome eaters, the themes have became more involved, and more exotic.  We spent one year celebrating Scandinavia, with an authentic Smorgasbord and a phoned in Norwegian blessing.  That year we even made themed Christmas ornaments.  Our themes for the past two years have been based on the travels each of my nieces did.  Turkish cuisine was celebrated after my oldest niece, Kara, traveled around the world on Semester at Sea.   And last year we had an authentic Chinese meal, after my niece Jill returned from a school trip to Beijing.  Duck was the centerpiece, and formed the base of the soup, the sides, and the main dish.  But this year, it was time to celebrate Peru.

I have always had a driving interest in food culture around the world, and love the challenge and learning that goes along with the Christmas Eve theme choices.  Starting in November, the final decisions are made, and the research begins in earnest.  The internet certainly makes the job easier, but I often find the need to consult resources in book form as well.  This year, a trip to the Carnegie Library with my students turned up a Peruvian Cuisine cookbook, which proved invaluable.  Next, the ingredient procurement takes center stage.  This often involves new food items I have never used before, spices I've never seen, and techniques that are completely novel to me.  Every once in a while, it even involves purchasing a new piece of cookware!!  (Paella pan for spain, turkish coffee "pot").   The challenge item that I needed to find for Peru was a yellow hot pepper paste, called Aji Mirasol.  Many of the dishes I selected called for this paste, and I was stuck unless I found it.  Luckily, the Latin American store in the Strip district carried it, so I was in luck.

Creating the menu is a big challenge.  Knowing that you can find the ingredients is a first important step, but then taking a realistic look at prep time, staging time, and number of eaters is critical.  The other factor is a bit more enigmatic....will they eat it?  All bets are off with this, although I must say that the odds have increasingly risen every year since it's inception.   So this was the year I really put them to the test.  Can you say, CEVICHE??!!!  Of course, the meal would have to start with this culinary conquest from Peru, the appetizer made by marinating raw fish in lime juice and spices to "cook" it with mere protein changes.  The menu:

Ceviche de pescado

(Marinated Fish Salad)

  

Bread with Inka Aji Sauce

Chancho al Horno

(Peruvian Pork)

Pollo con Aji Verde

(Roast Chicken with Green Sauce)

Papas a la Huancaina

(Potatoes in Cheese Sauce)

Peske de Quinoa

(Puree of Quinoa)

Tres Leche Cake

(Three Milk Cake)

Fair Trade Peruvian Coffee

In answer to your question, yes they did. ........ I know!!.........right??  Even I did!!  And I made it!!  But after getting through the icky thought process, the taste was actually quite good, very astringent, refreshing, spicy on the tongue, and fresh.  I can see where you might actually come to like this stuff.  No one asked for seconds though, so that might offer some clue.

The rest of the meal went swimmingly, although I regret to say that no pictures were taken (blame it on the fantastic food!).  We even had a lively peruvian trivia match, complete with prizes from Peru.  In the end, the cuisine of Peru was a hit.  Below are the two most popular dishes of the evening:


Inka Aji Sauce
This brilliant green dipping sauce was served with french baguette slices to dip slide into it.  Before I could put the next course on the table, the whole bottle of sauce was all used up, and the bread right with it.  From what I could gather, it was quite popular.  


1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
2 serrano peppers, seeds and membranes removed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp scoopable chicken bouillon
7 saltine crackers


Combine in blender or food processor.  Will keep up to a week in refrigerator.


Papas a la Huancaina
This peruvian potato salad has many different versions.  I tried out 2 different recipes and settled on this one.  In all, I served this dish to 3 different groups, and all to rave revues.  It would make a great twist on the classic picnic salad, if you lay your hands on the spice paste!


You will be building a layered salad onto individual serving plates, or onto one serving platter.

• Wash and chop romaine lettuce leaves to form a bed on each serving plate
• Boiled whole potatoes, peeled and sliced into half moons (red or new are best)
• Peeled and quarter hard-boiled eggs to lay on top of potatoes
• Dressing, as described below, to pour overtop of potatoes
• Kalamata olives to scatter on top of dressing

4 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tsp aji mirasol paste, or to taste
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 cups queso fresco ( can substitute feta cheese)
4 saltine crackers
3/4 cup evaporated milk (or more to thin to desired consistency)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Saute onion, garlic and pepper paste in oil until softened.  Transfer to food processor.  Add evaporated milk and blend.  Add cheese and crackers and blend until smooth.  Sauce should be fairly thick, but pourable.  Thicken with more saltines, or thin with more milk, if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dressing will keep for several days in refrigerator.