Food from Afar - Cusco

About an hour plane ride away, Cusco has a much more antique feel than Lima. Brick and tan buildings splay out via cobblestone streets from Plaza de Armas (the Main Square) into the hills. You can feel the altitude from the moment you step off the plane. Every hotel, tourist shop, and restaurant is offering coca tea. Made from the same plant from which the drug cocaine is derived, these legal and natural leaves are dropped into hot water for tea or steeped into candies to help alleviate altitude sickness. The flavor is mildly herbaceous with a hint of mint.

The sun rises early so near the equator, and with it, Peruvian women dressed in traditional garb start their day early, selling food and drink on the side of the streets. Hard boiled quail eggs are deshelled and dropped into a small plastic bag with a spoonful of aji, a soupy green sauce predominantly made with cilantro, onion, and jalepeno. Others haul five gallon buckets full of chicha, a lightly fermented corn beer. The cloudy, foamy, white/yellow beverage is periodically mixed by scooping and dumping with a measuring cup. For 1 sole (approx. $.33) you get a glass and a pour to be consumed right there. The flavor is slightly sweet and thick but not chewy. The flavor of the corn comes through a bit, and the slight fermentation (1-4% alcohol) gives just a tickle to the back of your throat. Variations on the beverage include using purple corn (chicha morada), making it sweeter and taste slightly of grape juice also providing a dark inky color, or adding strawberries to the original corn mash making it a cloudy pink and again, adding and berry sweetness.

While corn, potatoes, and grains (like quinoa) are the basis of the Peruvian diet, there are so many classic dishes to try, it’s a challenge to choose. At the suggestion of my hostel, one night I headed over to La Cusqueñita, a traditional Peruvian restaurant for dinner. Inclusive in their 50+ item buffet was also traditional music and dancing. I still don’t understand the mustachioed masks, but the food was delicious. We sampled everything including soups and salads alongside Lomo saltado (strips of beef sautéed with onions, tomatoes, and chunks of starchy potatoes) aji de gallina (chicken in a yellow curry sauce with onions), chicharones (fried pork belley), queso andines (Andean cheese, similar to feta in its texture and saltiness but not as crumbly and colored off-white, sold in 3kg wheels at the local market for 12 soles [$4]) and arroz con leche (rice pudding topped with a purple corn based syrup and fresh fruit).

One oddity that you will find on almost every menu in Cusco is guinea pig. Every place that offers it prepares it one of two ways, roasted or fried. The Peruvian delicacy is priced the same (50 soles or about  $17) at every restaurant and can be ordered head on or off. I was leaving the city on my way to the Sacred Valley to start my Inka Trail Trek (my next post) and discovered a tiny town called Lamay, known for its spit-roasted gunea pig. I took the collectivo (municipal bus) and when I saw the ladies waving the rodents on sticks, I flagged the driver to stop. I made my selection of guinea pig from the hearth and after some pictures, sat down to a hearty meal. When ordering guinea pig, you get the whole animal. The innards had been removed prior to roasting and were replaced with herbs and spices, also removed before plating. The skin was dark brown and blistered from the dry heat, and the body was cut into quarters and yes, the head was still on. The meat itself was soft and juicy, tasting somewhere between dark meat turkey and duck. Some complained that the dish is boney, but no more than one would expect from eating a mammal. Corn and potatoes were sides, along with a dish of aji. After the meal, I was served a shot of a clear, anise-flavored spirit as an aperitif.

Back on the collectivo, backpack in tow, I made my way to Ollantaytambo to begin my four day trek.