By Daniel Neman



My interest in the foods of Peru began with a colleague. Carlos Ayulo has lived in this country since he was young and recently became an American citizen. But he still misses the food of his native Peru.
You should hear him talk about it. The way he describes the dishes he ate there, the passion with which he discusses the ingredients — you feel like you can taste every bite. This, I said to myself, is food I have to make.
So I decided to try cooking a couple of Peru’s most popular entrees, plus an appetizer topped with a sauce that goes over practically everything.
If I may say so, they turned out quite well. Most important, they passed the Carlos test. And I can see what it is about his native cuisine that he loves so much.
If you are going to cook the food of Peru — or if you’re planning to visit there — it’s helpful to keep a few things in mind:
l The culture of Peru is a unique and fascinating combination of influences from indigenous tribes, Spain, Africa, China and Japan.
l The potato probably first originated in Peru or neighbouring Chile. More than 3,800 different types of potatoes grow in the region, and they are all used for cooking. Peruvians add potatoes to foods that few other cultures would think to do, including starches such as rice.
l If you go to Peru, you are likely to be offered a bony meat called cuy, which will probably be either baked or barbecued. It is said to have a pleasant taste, but you should know that what Peruvians call cuy we call guinea pig.
Of these facts, the first is probably the most important, at least in how it affects the food. Peru has the largest number of people of Japanese and Chinese descent in South America, and their ingredients and methods of cooking — such as soy sauce and stir-fries — have long been an accepted part of Peruvian cuisine. Africans, who originally came as slaves, brought with them a fondness for spices, ways to cook offal and undesirable cuts of meat (it was all the slave masters would give them) and a number of desserts still popular today.
The Spanish influence on Peruvian food is seen everywhere, from stuffed peppers to arroz con pato (it’s like arroz con pollo, rice with chicken, but made with duck), to spiced meat.
And the native people’s influence begins with local ingredients such as potatoes, corn and chile peppers. One pepper in particular stands out, a spicy yellow pepper called aji amarillo. If you sample Peruvian food, it will not be long before you have some aji amarillo.
Aji amarillo imparts its noticeably fruity taste to any number of Peruvian dishes.
Though each dish I made had a decidedly different flavour, aji amarillo was part of all three — or four, if you count the sauce that accompanies the first one.
Pollo a la brasa is perhaps the most ubiquitous dish in Peru. It is sold everywhere, from street stands to expensive restaurants, and is practically the country’s national dish.
A single bite, and you’ll know why. Marinated overnight for extra flavour, it has an unmistakably warm, earthy taste, courtesy of cumin and paprika, with just the right amount of heat from the aji amarillo.
In Peru, it is made on a special rotisserie over charcoal, ensuring both an even heat and a great taste of char from the coals. You could essentially re-create that taste by grilling it over indirect heat, but I just baked mine in the oven and it came out wonderfully. Because of the marinade, it even got a bit of char.
I served my chicken with an aji verde sauce, a brightly flavoured, cilantro-and-mayo combination that makes a perfect dipping sauce for the chicken or, frankly, anything else. It would certainly be terrific for anything grilled, and most seafood.
Next, I made a beef stir fry called lomo saltado. In many respects, it is like a typical stir fry — onion, garlic, soy sauce, beef stock, scallions. But in a couple of ways, it is pure Peru.
The dish uses just a bit of aji amarillo, of course. And to make it the way they make it in Peru, you have to use beef tenderloin. Nothing else has the rich, buttery softness that makes lomo saltado unique.
Finally, I made huancaina, an addictive appetizer of sliced potatoes covered in an irresistible white cheese sauce. It has aji amarillo, naturally, queso fresco (a crumbly white cheese) and evaporated milk.
But the secret ingredient, the one thing that gives this sauce its identity, is Saltines. Just a few crumbled into the sauce gives it its culinary personality.
That’s the flavour of Peru. Saltines and aji amarillo.

Papa A La Huancaina
Yield: 6 servings
6 yellow potatoes
2 to 5 tablespoons aji amarillo paste, to taste, see note
2 tablespoons corn oil
1 cup evaporated milk
4 Saltine crackers
8 ounces queso fresco, see note
1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional
Salt to taste
Lettuce leaves
Black olives
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into slices
Parsley
Method:
Boil the potatoes until fully cooked; a fork will slide into the middle with ease. Remove from boiling water. When cool enough to touch, peel if you wish.
Place aji amarillo, oil, evaporated milk, crackers, queso fresco, optional turmeric (this is just for colouring) and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. If you do not know how hot the aji amarillo is, begin with 2 tablespoons or less; taste after blending and add more until it reaches the heat you desire.
Place lettuce leaves in a single layer on a plate. Top with slices of potato and cover with sauce. Garnish with olives, sliced eggs and parsley.
Per serving: 403 calories; 20 g fat; 8 g saturated fat; 132 mg cholesterol; 16 g protein; 41 g carbohydrate; 8 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 388 mg sodium; 344 mg calcium.
Recipe by Perudelights.com

Lomo Saltado
Yield: 2 to 3 servings
8 ounces beef tenderloin, sliced in strips
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil, divided, plus more if needed
1 red onion, sliced in thick petals (out layers only)
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and sliced into bite-sized wedges
1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic puree or 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons red vinegar
2 cups beef stock, reduced by half
1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste, see note
A bunch of scallions, cut into 2-inch slices
1 tablespoon cilantro
Note: If you can’t find aji amarillo paste, substitute with julienned jalapeno or minced bell pepper if you don’t like it spicy.

Method:
Season the beef liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a pan or wok over high heat until very hot, and add 1 tablespoon oil. Saute beef until seared on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon; add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onions, tomatoes and pureed or minced garlic.
Sauté vegetables until the onions are crisp-tender. Add soy sauce, vinegar and beef stock. Return beef to the pan or wok.
Stir-fry until the sauce reduces to a syrupy consistency. Add the aji amarillo, scallions and cilantro. Stir to mix and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Serve over white rice with a handful of french fries on top.
Per serving: 333 calories; 23 g fat; 7 g saturated fat; 64 mg cholesterol; 20 g protein; 12 g carbohydrate; 6 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 1,754 mg sodium; 66 mg calcium.
Recipe by Astrid y Gaston restaurant, Lima, Peru

Pollo A La Brasa With Aji Verde Sauce
Yield: 4 servings of chicken and 6 servings of sauce

Pollo A La Brasa:
2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons aji amarillo sauce, see note
1 (4-pound) whole chicken

Aji Verde Sauce:
1 cup cilantro
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon aji amarillo sauce
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco, see note
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 jalapenos, ribs and seeds removed
Juice of 1 lime
Method for the pollo a la brasa:
 In a small bowl, mix together oil, vinegar, soy sauce, cumin, paprika, salt, black pepper and aji amarillo. Spread evenly over chicken and place in a closable plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least overnight or up to 24 hours. The longer it marinates, the more flavour it will have.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a baking pan. Roast for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees and cook for 1 hour. If the meat starts to get too blackened, cover with a sheet of aluminium foil. Allow to rest 15 minutes before carving. Serve with french fries and aji verde sauce.

Method for the Aji Verde Sauce:
Combine cilantro, mayonnaise, aji amarillo, queso fresco, garlic, jalapenos and lime juice in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

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Per serving (based on 4): 750 calories; 53 g fat; 12 g saturated fat; 200 mg cholesterol; 61 g protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 2,053 mg sodium; 91 mg calcium.
Recipe by Tasteade, via YouTube   
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS