Lunch time!

It’s freezing cold today, but I’ve just had a hot bowl of soup and cup of tea to warm me up. They eat their largest meals in the afternoon, and always have coffee or tea (tea made from coca leaves is most popular and is supposed to be the best remedy for altitude sickness). Meals in the afternoon are the largest, a soup is served first, and then a main course with meat, which is usually beef (most often chewy), chicken, or fish and rice or potatoes. There seem to be no tortillas in Peru! I was told the only time tortillas are ever served is in the Sierras, during a traditional ceremony or celebration. Instead, bread is at every meal which I absolutely love, but the bread is really hard.

Breakfast is usually just bread with butter or jam, and dinner is usually another bowl of soup.

If you were to sit down at a restaurant and wanted to try a typical Peruvian dish, you would see Alpaca on the menu. The meat is supposed to be very healthy, with little fat and no cholesterol, but I’m told very few Peruvians actually eat Alpaca! It’s seen as more of a beast of burden, rather than food. A really typical Peruvian dish is the Kuy, or roasted guinea pig, and when it is eaten the whole guinea pig, head and all, is brought to the table….something I haven’t experienced yet, but I did eat fish served with the tail still on it. Kuy is such a typical food that it was painted as part of the Last Supper in a piece done during colonial times which hangs in Cusco’s Cathedral. Another typical dish would be Anticucho, which is supposed to be really tender, juicy meat served on a kabob. Sounds great, right? Until you find out the meat is from a cow’s heart! I’m not sure if I’m gusty enough to try it…I think I’d like to try their famous Chifa (Chinese food) instead, or eat at one of their many pizzerias.

They have a variety of fruits, but my favorite is the huge avocados (they´re a type from the ones in the states) you can buy at very cheap prices!