What are some of the difference between American and Peruvian cuisine??

Question

Im doing a spanish project and i have to find out some foods from peru and tell how its different from American food...please don't tell me to go to wikipedia.org...please give me a specific site or if u kno alot about peru food, just tell me...thanks!

Answer 1

My ex-husband was from Peru and I have several recipes I can bring in tomorrow...ones that don't involve nasty ingredients you're not likely to find in the local supermarket...such as guinea pig...yuck..A "pachamanca" (translated to "dirt-kettle" ) is like a May Pole festival. There is a giant pole with ribbons that they dance around. There were dancing horses and lots of music. The one I went to was like an East Coast Crab boil...big pit, hot rocks and coals...food wrapped in foil packets (banana leaves not that easy to come by in Colorado) and it was delicious...kind of like a crock pot stew when done. It was beef, pork and chicken all together. I've found that most meals come with similar basics. Lots of garlic, cumin, boiled eggs and boiled potatoes and we ate everything with steamed white rice. I have a recipe for AJI DE GALLINA which is a chicken in a spicy nut sauce..yummy.....Loma Saltado (sp?) Marinated beef & onion strips sauted with fresh tomatoes and served over rice and home fries....(marinated heavily in garlic, cumin, sherry), Papa Rellenas....a dry mashed potato mixture formed into little balls that are stuffed with a meat, raisin mixture then sauted....I can bring the recipes in tomorrow if you're interested and email them to you. I'll have to put in a word doc first...so...click on my profile for the email address..then email me and I can send. Hope this helps. Pamela
ps...my husband grew up in one of those shanty towns outside of Lima you see on documentaries. They survived for years on oats, rice and yams. He was 15 before he knew that hot water actually came from a tap. They eat less meat than they do carbs. It's about the poverty. Sometimes they went days with nothing at all. There is a site I found here that might help now: http://www.i12cook.com/html/stuffed_potato_recipe.html

Answer 2

There is a grain from the Andes eaten in Peru called Quinoa which is highly nutricious and prepared as you would rice. Potatoes are originally from Peru and a specialty from Peru is Ceviche which is raw fish marinated in lime juice, the acidity of the lime juice actually cooks the fish which is fillet cut in strips, it's delicious. I hope this small bit of information helps

Answer 3

In the jungle region, they eat a lot of plantains. Oftentimes, it is served like a side to an entree, and there is tacacho, which is like a ball of fried, smashed plantains with meat in it. I guess that is different from American food...because we don't eat plaintains that much? There is so much other good food in Peru...

Answer 4

the basic staples are: rice and potatoes, eaten daily. they have a combo spice used in their food. they also use chicken and, unfortunately, guinea pigs. American cuisine frowns on meat that is recognized here as housepets. you can find recipes by searching for peruvian cuisine.com.

Answer 5

Peruvian cuisine is usually considered one of the most diverse in the world and is on par with French, Chinese and Indian cuisine
The cuisine of the coast can be said to have four strong influences: the Moorish, the African, the Chinese and the local native.

The Pacific Ocean is the principal source of aquatic resources for Peru. Peru is one of the world's top two producers and exporters of unusually high-protein fishmeal for use in livestock/aquaculture feed. Its richness in fish and other aquatic life is enormous, and many oceanic plant and animal species can only be found in Peru. As important as the Pacific is to Peru's biodiversity, freshwater biomes such as the Amazon River and Lake Titicaca also play a large role in the ecological make-up of the country.

Every coastal region, being distinct in flora and fauna populations, adapts its cuisine in accordance to the resources available in its waters.

Ceviche, with its many different variations (pure, combination, or mixed with fish and shellfish) is a good example of this regional adaptation. Cebiche is found in almost all Peruvian restaurants specialized in this country´s world renowned fish and seafood. Only Lima holds thousands of them, from the simple to very fancy ones.

The chupe de camarones (shrimp cioppino) is one of the most popular dishes of Peruvian coastal cuisine. It is made from a thick freshwater shrimp (crayfish) stock soup, potatoes, milk and chili pepper. Regarded as typical from Arequipa (a beautiful southern andean city in Peru), Chupe de Camarones is regularly found in peruvian restaurants specialized in Food From Arequipa.

In the valleys and plains of the Andes, the locals' diet continues to be based on corn (maize), potatoes, and an assortment of tubers as it has been for many hundreds of years. Meat comes from indigenous animals like alpacas and guinea pigs, but also from imported livestock like sheep and swine.

As with many rural cultures, most of the more elaborate dishes were reserved for festivities, while daily meals were simple affairs. Nowadays, the festive dishes are consumed every day, although they tend to be on the heavy side and demand a large appetite.

The pachamanca is a very special banquet in and of itself. Cooked all over the Andean region of Peru, is made from a variety of meats (including pork and beef), herbs and a variety of vegetables that are slowly cooked underground on a bed of heated stones. It demands skillful cooks to create and a large number of guests to consume. Because of its tedious preparation it is normally only done for celebrations or festivals in the Andes, though recent years have seen the appearance of many "campestre" restaurants outside Lima where urban families can escape to spend an afternoon in the fresh air eating pachamanca.

Andean cooking's main freshwater fish is the trout, raised in fisheries in the region.

Currently, ostrich meat is being raised from farms in Arequipa, although its consumption is not widespread and limited to urban areas.

Cuy chactado - A dish more popular in the highlands is this meal of fried guinea pig. Often the indigenous women of the Peruvian Andes will raise the guinea pigs in their huts where they run around loose on the floors of the dwellings. Prior to consumption they can reach a surprisingly large size. Besides the use of guinea pigs as separate meals, they are often cooked in a Pachamanca with other meats and vegetables.


A center of immigration and centers of the Spanish viceroyalty, Lima and Trujillo have incorporated unique dishes brought from the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors and the receiving of many waves of immigrants: African, European, Chinese, and Japanese. Besides international immigration—a large portion of which happened in Lima—there has been, since the second half of the 20th century, a strong internal flow from rural areas to cities, in particular to Lima. This has strongly influenced Lima's cuisine with the incorporation of the immigrant's ingredients and techniques (for example, the Chinese extensive use of rice or the Japanese approach to preparing raw fish).

Creole cuisine is the most widespread in this cosmopolitan city. Some international cuisines with a large presence include Chinese (known locally as Chifa) and Italian. The city's ubiquitous bakeries are another culinary treasure, where you may find just out of the oven bread from 6 to 9am and from 4 to 6pm. Few coastal cities bakeries produce "bollos", which are loaves of stone and wood-oven baked bread from the Andes, the great Peruvian mountains.

Anticuchos are brochettes made from a beef heart marinated in a various peruvian spices sauce and grilled, often sided with boiled potatoes and corn. They are commonly sold by street vendors and served shish kabob-style, but you may find them in creole food restaurants.

Also frequently sold by street vendors are tamales: boiled corn with meat or cheese and wrapped in a banana leaf. They are similar to humitas, which consist of corn mixed with spices, sugar, onions, filled with pork and olives and finally wrapped in the leaves of corn husks. Tamales are a common breakfast food, often served with lima and/or "Salsa Criolla."


AnticuchosAnother favorite food to be found in many restaurants is Papas a la huancaína (Huancayo-style potatoes), a dish consisting of sliced boiled potatoes, served on a bed of lettuce with a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives. Originating in Huancayo, it is now popular throughout most of Peru.