newsletter
june 2007
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CAMARONES:
Gaston Acurio in his acclaimed La Mar restaurant is known to serve up a succulent risotto de camarones. Buttery river crayfish, carmarones, are grilled and placed over a creamy, white-wine infused risotto. Lima marvels over this plate, especially in the month of June, when camarones can be legally fished again. From the months of December to May - camarones breeding season - the Peruvian government outlaws their fishing. During these taboo summer months, tourists and epicurean Limeños are served shrimp instead of camarones, and the result just isn't the same. While shrimp are rich and filling, they don't have the same depth of earthy flavor that a camaron, grilled over a hot flame, infuses into risottos, stews, or side dishes. During the limited months that camarones are available to the Peruvian public, they are coveted and craved.
NORTHERN ROAD TRIP:
Most Peruvians from Lima get married in their home town. They invite their families, friends, and family friends, and by the time the wedding rolls around, 300 people are competing for ceviche at the buffet line. Looking for intimacy and an excuse to travel, Pica Peru founder Sandra Gamio is hosting her September wedding in the beach town of Mancora. The wedding feast will surely serve up fresh seafood, but the most interesting delights are to be found on the drive up to Mancora. On her wedding announcement, Gamio proposed a food-infused road trip to Mancora. Before and after visits to archeological sites, Gamio has her guests stopping in the surfing town of Barranca for the typical Peruvian comfort food tacu tacu, a rice and bean mixture shaped up and sautéed like an omelet. And, just before Mancora, she recommends a break in Tortugas for fried chita (grouper) and yucca.
PERUVIAN COOKBOOKS:
Getting your hands on a good, usable Peruvian cookbook is a challenge. While there are some great reads in Peru, they are mostly in Spanish and call for locally available ingredients, which are hard to find abroad. Even when a cookbook makes its abroad and into English, it often calls for unfamiliar ingredients like yellow potatoes and the bitter huacatay herb. But if you search hard enough, there is a gem worth buying: The Exotic Kitchens of Peru (M. Evans, 1999). Copeland Marks, a food historian, lecturer at the Smithsonian, and contributor to Bon Appetit and Gourmet, compiled this collection of recipes with the help of noted Peruvian chefs and food historians. His recipes open with a bit of history and follow up with easy steps and substitutions. Marks dishes, when they finally land on the table, are a flavorful trip to South American, without the red-eye flight. Here's one of our favorite, simple Peruvian recipes, excerpted from Marks' book.
Pescado Sudado (Callao)
Steamed Fish Fillets
Callao is the most important port of entry and exit of goods to and from Peru. It is the port for Lima. Callao has an established indigenous style of cooking. This is an example.
- 3 tablespoons corn oil
- 1 large onion, sliced (1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced (1 cup)
- ¼ paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 ½ pounds fillets of flounder, corvina (cod), or other white-fleshed fish
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 10 sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped
- Lemon slices, for serving
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, and salt and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Cover the mixture completely with the fish fillets.
2. Add the wine, cover the skillet, and cook for 5 minutes over low heat, which is just enough time to steam the fish. Garnish with parsley.
Serve with lemon slices, accompanied by sliced boiled potatoes, sliced boiled yucca, or hot white rice. Serves 6.
- Kazia, Sandra, & Norma