Thirty Days in Peru ~ odds n' ends a wrap up

My month in Peru seemed to go by so quickly, yet I had so very many experiences, saw so many sights, and did so many new things, that I don’t think I’ve had sufficient time to absorb them all yet. When I had the opportunity, at the end of my trip, to relax and reflect a little, my mind just seemed empty until the night before departure when it filled with all manner of thoughts and feelings which rendered me unable to sleep most of the night.

I had found myself earlier in the day and continually throughout the afternoon with the desire to hear pan-flute music, which is common throughout the southern highlands. At some point during the night, after finally falling into a feverish sleep, I awoke with the regret that I hadn’t purchased a pan flute as a memento of my trip.

The next day, on my nine hour trip from Trujillo on the northern coast to Lima for my final journey home, I reflected more on my impressions of Peru and came to the conclusion it is still too early to tell if it left an impression upon my soul.

After having dinner with my friend Yadilitta, while waiting for my flight to Miami, I thought about all the people I met, who crossed my path for a number of hours or days, and came to the conclusion that the people I had the opportunity to interact with most definitely left an impression upon my heart.

Yadilitta, with whom I had the great pleasure to share my passion for good food and who steered me along the pathways of traditional and nouveau Peruvian cuisine, as well as chauffeured me around Lima, became an instant friend and confidante. She emailed me suggestions of what foods I had to try as well as restaurants in every town I visited. She sent me recipes for some of the dishes we ate together and shared my excitement when I blogged about simple fare and gourmet meals.

Then there were Kam and Prince, two exuberant guys from the U.K. who were following the same route as I, as our paths crossed and re-crossed. Kam works in the stock market and Prince is in the Royal Air Force. They are cousins who came to Peru more or less on a whim. They were not as interested in the secrets of ancient cultures or the ways of the surviving culture so much as they were interested in connecting with other travelers to celebrate their travels and the shared culture of their youth and exuberance.


In Arequipa there was Jose, the elder, proprietor of my cheap and somewhat dumpy hostel, who was there 24/7 sleeping in his clothes on a couch in the small upstairs lobby room a few hours a night between 2am-6 or 7am. He always greeted me with a big smile and “Mr. Robert!” when he came to unlock the hall gate and let me in or out. Jose directed me to a good tour operator for my trip into Colca Canyon, let me store my bags at the hostel while on that 3 day trip, and had my same room ready for me when I returned. He was always curious about California and the USA, and although both of us only possessed a rudimentary grasp of the other’s language, we managed to have quite a few short conversations. Imagine my surprise when I awoke the last day of my stay to find that Jose had been replaced by a younger man who spoke much more English and turned out to be Jose Jr.! I should have guessed by his pleasant outgoing manner and lively smile and eyes.


Cathy, who worked the day shift at Hostel Tourista Recolada in Cusco, was a gentle soul who was pleasant to be around and seemed always to be in a mild state of wonderment. She graciously welcomed me, when I arrived at 7:30 am after my overnight bus trip from Arequipa, with a hot cup of coca tea and made me feel comfortable in one of the hostel lounges as a room was prepared for me. She enjoyed humming and sometimes outright boisterous singing as she went about her daily chores. Her smile always made me feel like “welcome home” and I looked forward to seeing her every morning as she calmly served breakfast in the small dining area to the guests as they began their day.


I met travelers from many parts of the globe but none more than from Australia. New Zeeland was second and I met more than I would have imagined from Holland as well as Brazilians, Venezuelans, and others from Singapore to Spain. On the second night at the bottom of Colca canyon I had hours of good conversations with Julio from Barcelona, Sasha from Holland, and Rachel from Kansas City. We were sitting at one of the picnic tables in the dining area under cover from the late afternoon rain storm.  Although Julio and Rachel had both been traveling the first part of their journeys with a friend, all three were traveling on their own.

The last week of my trip was spent along the northern coast above Lima, an area which was not nearly as tourist friendly and where I only met one traveler who spoke English and could have a good conversation with. Needless to say, I felt a bit adrift and alone, but I still managed to have a pretty good time.

Looking back through my pictures, I see I have quite a few that did not make it into the blog yet may be missing parts of the story.  I will just add them here with brief explanations and hope that will suffice.

I have quite a few pictures of food......  Here is some street food from Puno I did not stop to ask about.....perhaps skewered meat and potatoes cooked on a grill.

These were good, yucca fries with two dipping sauces.

I had many versions of this starter...Potatoes with a mild yellow chile sauce This was the best with an olive and hard boiled egg ~ Peruvian potato salad

The best breakfast I found...Eggs covered with a spicy tomato sauce, a salad of avocado, tomato, and cucumber, delicious wheat rolls, coffee, and a small pitcher of mango pineapple orange juice

a simple avocado, tomato and cucumber salad with citrus vinaigrette

This was good!  Avocado stuffed with chicken salad and asparagus

Very common were papas rellenos - mashed potato stuffed with meat and other ingredients and fried...I tried three diferent versions

this was one of the best because of the good (ahi) yellow pepper sauce....with ground beef, onions, and hard boiled egg

Going Home

My trip home would consist of a nine hour bus ride followed by about 3 hours in Lima then a red-eye from Lima to Miami, a flight fom Miami to Dallas, a flight from Dallas to San Jose Ca. then a 3 1/2 hour drive home to Oakhurst; all-in-all about 36 hours of travelling.

With three hours to kill in Lima at dinner time, the natural thought was to go out to dinner with my friend Yadilitta.  She had introduced me to the food of Peru in the first days of my visit and having dinner with her would be the perfect ending to my trip. We decided to go out to Malabar, who's cuisine is described as international.  The chef is Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America.  He worked in Italy and is the only chef in Lima to use and research Amazonian ingredients. Chef Schiaffino has created an eclectic cuisine that takes inspiration in his Peruvian, Italian, and Cuban heritage.

The bus trip started out with a light snack of a warm empanada filled with beef, onions, and hard boiled egg.  It was pretty good and I wondered why I had not seen breakfast empanadas on any breakfast menus during my trip.  The bus ride went pretty well as I had found a bookstore in Trujillo with books in english and had purchased "One Hundred years of Solitude" by Garcia Marquez and reading it passed a lot of time.  There was not much to see on the ride as the area from Trujillo to Lima is pretty much all dessert except every so often where a river flows out of the mountains to the sea and creates a strip of green where a town springs up.

Mountains with drifted sand along the road to Lima from Trujillo

The bus said the trip was only 8 hours but several other bus lines I had checked said 9 hours, so I figured on nine and to arrive around 6 pm. I was right about the nine hours and my bus arrived to the station at 6:15 pm where Yadilitta was waiting to pick me up. I took a few minutes to freshen up and change into a clean shirt and pants and we were on our way to Malabar.

 

It was nice to see Yadilitta again and we talked about food and some of my adventures in Peru on the way to the restaurant.  Yadilitta was not exactly sure how to get there and after a having to go around a couple blocks because of one-way streets we arrived and got a prime parking spot right next to the restaurant.  We each ordered specialty pisco sours; I got a one with cocona juice and Yadilitta got the Pisco punch which was prepared according to a 1850-recipe.

Yadilitta and I with our Pisco's

We had a hard time choosing courses because everything on the menu looked so good.  Some of my favorite dishes had been tiradito's and fresh seafood sounded great to both of us, so we started with a tiradito.  A tiradito is raw fish sliced very thin and served with a flavorful citrus sauce.  The sauce with the tiradito was incredibly good and I tried to slurp up every drop! 

I was intrigued by the Rockfish Tataki which was not exactly as I had expected but it was very good.  The fish was seared on the outside giving it a smoky flavor and paired with the crispy pork which was smoked pork cooked till crispy then pulverized to a powder.  The two smoky flavors and textures worked very well together and the sauce was citrusy with some acid to add brightness to the fish. 

Seabass Tiradito with Banana Passion Fruit Juice

Rockfish Tataki with Parsley Juice and Crispy Pork

Rocoto Chile Pepper Confit stuffed with Blood Orange Sausage and Rice

The rocoto relleno was really good.  We both agreed there was just the right amount of spice in the dish and all of the flavors were balanced very well. It had some raisins in it for sweetness and the texture was a revelation to me as it was very smooth and melted in my mouth.  

The suckling pig was again, an inspiration of flavors and textures.  The suckling pig was cooked till very tender topped with a piece of chicharon or fried pork rind for crispness.  I liked the idea of pork three diferent ways and the eggplant banana sauce was really good, a combination that I would never normally think of but which was very good.

Crispy Suckling Pig with Watercress Salad and Pork Tenderloin with Eggplant Banana Puree

Yadilitta and I in front of Malabar Bar

Dinner was just a little bit too rushed for me as I had to catch my plane and I wished Yadilitta and I had more time to visit.  Our shared love of food had been an instant bond of friendship between us when I first arrived in Peru and Lima.  She is a self proclaimed "foodie" who loves to cook and explore new flavors and tastes.  We had wonderful times talking about and eating food as well as our exploring the open air market and cooking together. 

As a chef, our shared foodie outings were some of my most memorable Peru experiences.  Thank you Yadilitta for spending your time with me and sharing your knowledge of Peruvian cuisine and passion for all things gustatory!