Peru Pt I

They say Peru has some of the best food, not just in South America but in the world, so how is it that, to the best of my knowledge, I had never tried Peruvian food prior to visiting Peru? I didn't even know what Peruvian food was.
The morning after getting back from Martha's Vineyard, Tom and I took a 10-day vacation to visit Lima and Cusco, Peru. The highlight of the trip was supposed to be the 3-day hike and exploring Machu Picchu. While the hike was an experience I will never forget, the food was also a huge part our time spent there. Because the exchange rate was in our favor, we ate like a king and queen. Even though our apparel never reflected our "wealth", we visited the nicest restaurants we could find, .
Our first night in Lima, Tom wanted to go to Huaca Pucllana, a beautiful restaurant situated in Miraflores, adjacent to a Pre-Incan Archeological site (which was lit with tiny spotlights). Click on the restaurant's link to take a look.

We ordered Deep Fried Chicken, sautéed in a butter and Pisco Sauce for an appetizer that was absolutely to die for.


I ordered the Ceviche Pucllana: fish, shrimp, octopus and scallops marinated in lemon and yellow chili, served with yucca sticks.


Tom got another kind of ceviche. Each came with 3 different types of corn- corn we had never seen before. We learned that Peru is known for over a thousand varieties of potatoes and corn. Every type we tried was amazing... Who do I talk to about importing them??

Martha's Vineyard

I apologize for the lack of posts but just know I gained about 10 lbs of photos taken in the past month and a half (my eating habits have gotten out of control!). It all started on a Memorial Day Weekend trip to Martha's Vineyard. My friend, Philipp, invited several of our friends for a gastronomical tour at his house. Our grocery bill came out to around $650 for 4 days of [really good] eating. The thing about having foodies for friends is that everyone wants to be in the kitchen. Since it was not my kitchen, I had to learn how to share and cater to the way other people cook and prepare their meals. It was a learning experience and in the end, it's just eating nice meals with best friends, right? I am not going to post every single meal or snack (as there was breakfast/brunch/lunch/snack/dinner served every day) but here is an example of how amazing this weekend went.

On Saturday, we feasted on lobster... dipped in lots and lots of butter. Caleb also made amazing cheddar biscuits, Saela made a salad- for which I made a raspberry vinaigrette (which I find amusing since I never liked raspberry vinaigrette dressing), and a potato salad was somewhere in there too.




Another thing I learned... my friends are fancy. Our table settings looked like they came straight out of a Martha Stewart magazine. (I added the pinecones)

Phil pours Prosecco and Fuse juice

Now, when we went out to the grocery store, everyone had ideas on what to get for meals, but it was never just "pasta with some sauce"... it turned into "pasta, with sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, roasted garlic and asparagus". A "salad" meant "baby spinach, arugula, walnuts, feta, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and apple slices"... "corn on the cob" was "mexican corn... mayo, lime juice, parmesan cheese, chili powder, red pepper flakes and cumin" I am not complaining, but what a difference from this past weekend!
Tom and I went to Jason's beach house on LBI, we picked up a package of hot dogs/buns, corn on the cob, peppers, potatoes, a bag of cheetos and sour patch kids. Again, not complaining; we had a lovely barbeque.