50 Fun Facts About Peruvian Food

What is considered the most important ingredient in Peruvian cuisine?

Peru has the widest variety of them in the world; over 99% of cultivated ones descend from one Andean subspecies.

Which chef is best known for raising awareness of native Peruvian ingredients?

The revival of quinoa, kiwicha and Andean tubers owes much to his profile.

On which date is Peru's National Ceviche Day?

The government declared it in 2008; the dish can also be spelt cebiche.

What is lomo saltado?

Chinese immigrants created it; tomato, onion and French fries go in with the beef.

Tacu-tacu, introduced by enslaved Africans, is a fried mix of what?

It is typically topped with a steak or a fried egg and salsa criolla.

Which pre-Columbian culture marinated seafood in fermented banana passionfruit juice?

Citrus only arrived with the Spanish; the fruit they used was called tumbo.

What is the Peruvian name for the marinade left over from ceviche?

It is often drunk on its own and credited as a hangover cure.

Unlike Mexican or Ecuadorian versions, Peruvian ceviche is never made with what?

It is usually served with sweet potato and large-kernel choclo corn.

Chupe de camarones is a thick soup made from what?

Crayfish stock, potatoes, milk and chilli go into the Arequipa-style favourite.

What is the Peruvian term for Chinese-Peruvian fusion food?

It comes from the Mandarin chī fàn, meaning "to eat rice".

What is arroz chaufa?

Soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil and cumin go into the chifa staple.

Anticuchos are grilled skewers traditionally made from what?

Street vendors sell them with boiled potato or corn on the side.

Papa a la huancaína takes its name from which city?

Sliced boiled potatoes come under a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives.

Pollo a la brasa's rotisserie was patented in 1950 by two residents of what nationality?

Roger Shuler and Franz Ulrich devised the planetary-rotation grill in Lima.

Causa is a cold dish built on what base?

Lime, chilli and oil are mixed in, with layers of avocado, chicken or tuna.

Which dish is a stew of pork, chicken, dried potatoes, peanuts and red chillies?

The Afro-Peruvian Ica version uses fresh potatoes instead of dried.

Ají de gallina is chicken in a creamy sauce coloured by which chilli?

Cheese, milk and bread thicken the sauce; walnuts appear only at upscale tables.

Cau cau is a stew based on what?

The creole version is finished with mint; the Italian-Peruvian one uses porcini and tomato.

Seco de cabrito is a northern stew of which meat?

It is marinated in chicha de jora corn beer and is most popular in Cajamarca and Lambayeque.

Cebiche de conchas negras from Piura and Tumbes uses which shellfish?

It is served with toasted corn and is also popular across the border in Ecuador.

Pachamanca is cooked how?

The tedious preparation means it is usually reserved for Andean festivals.

What animal is cuy?

It is often served whole, and fried cuy chactado is popular in the highlands.

The English word "jerky" derives from which Andean word for cured meat?

Meat is salted then dehydrated; alpaca was traditional, sheep is common now.

Olluquito, the Andean stew with cured meat, is built on which crunchy tuber?

Pre-Inca populations domesticated it; it keeps a crunch when cooked.

Rocoto relleno is a stuffed-chilli speciality of which city?

Rocotos are among Peru's hottest chillies; the stuffing is spiced meat, olives and egg white.

Tocosh is a traditional Quechua food made from what?

It is an acquired taste, prized for its medicinal reputation.

Paiche, a staple of Amazonian cooking, is what?

Piranha also turns up in Amazonian soups and grills.

Camu camu contains roughly how many times more vitamin C than kiwifruit?

The jungle fruit also flavours ice creams and refrescos.

Which herb gives the sauce in ocopa its vivid green colour?

Ground peanuts and fresh cheese round out the sauce over sliced yellow potatoes.

Which NASA-endorsed Andean grain has been used in astronaut meals since 1985?

Kiwicha and maca have also gone to space; Oprah helped brand them superfoods.

Tarwi, an Andean legume, has more vegetable protein than which crop?

Its seeds have been found in Nazca tombs and on Tiahuanaco ceramics.

Which French chemist convinced Europeans that potatoes were fit for humans?

Until his lavish banquets the tubers were considered livestock feed.

What is the classic filling of Peruvian alfajores?

The expensive Spanish ingredients like almonds and honey were swapped for local ones.

Turrón de Doña Pepa is traditionally eaten during which October procession?

Legend says Afro-Peruvian cook Josefa Marmanillo created it after being healed of paralysis.

Which fruit is Peru's third most popular ice-cream flavour after vanilla and chocolate?

The nutty, orange-fleshed fruit is grown in quantity only in Peru.

Mazamorra morada gets its colour from which ingredient?

The same clove-spiced liquid, served cold, becomes the drink chicha morada.

Picarones are ring-shaped fritters made from what?

They replaced Spanish buñuelos and are drizzled with chancaca syrup.

King Kong, a layered cookie-and-milk-candy sweet, belongs to which region's culture?

It is sold in half-kilo and one-kilo blocks.

Which poet is said to have named suspiro a la limeña?

He reportedly said it was soft and sweet "like the sigh of a woman" from Lima.

What flavour is Inca Kola?

The bright yellow soda outsells Coca-Cola in Peru, a feat shared only with Scotland's Irn-Bru.

What share of the Inca Kola company did Coca-Cola buy in 1997?

The Peruvian soda still beats Coke in domestic sales.

Kola Inglesa, introduced in 1912 by Erin Stone, is what colour and flavour?

Kola Escocesa, a purple soda, is the rival tradition in the south.

Pisco, Peru's national drink, is what type of spirit?

It began as a cheaper colonial substitute for Spanish orujo.

Which ingredient gives a pisco sour its foam?

Lime juice and simple syrup complete the cocktail; the chilcano is pisco's other classic.

Peru's first brewery, Pilsen Callao, was founded in 1865 by an immigrant from where?

Cristal, Arequipeña and Cusqueña followed; Cusqueña is now exported worldwide.

Chicha de jora is a fermented drink made from what?

It spread under the Inca Empire and was drunk en masse during weeks of celebration.

Té de uña de gato is brewed from which Amazonian plant?

It is drunk for its supposed healing properties.

Which cold ocean flow makes Peru's coast so rich in fish?

Peru is one of the world's top producers of fishmeal.

How many of the world's 104 climatic zones does Peru have?

That diversity lets fruit and vegetables grow all year round.

What are the four traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine?

Rice, wheat and most meats arrived with the Spanish.