lima-mancora
OUR CULINARY VACATIONS
Highlights | Brief Itinerary | Full Itinerary | Cost Scheme
Overview
2009 Trip Dates:
Aug 5 - 13
Nov 4 - 12
2010 Trip Dates:
Apr 14 - 22
Aug 4 - 12
Trip Length
9 days / 8 nights
Group Size
max. 8 people
Full Itinerary
DAY 1: Lima
We will meet you at the airport (most international flights arrive in the late evening hours, about 11 p.m.) and transfer you to the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel.
DAY 2: Lima (B, L, D)
Today, we explore criollo cooking, a coastal cuisine that draws on Peru's fresh seafood as well as the cultural influences of Spanish and African immigrants. Our first stops are at the nearby Mercado de Surquillo, the city's largest public market, and Supermercado Wong, a modern grocery. A professional chef will take us through both, teaching the fruits, vegetables, grains, and seafoods of Peruvian cooking. At lunchtime, we dine at the sleek La Mar Cebicheria, a restaurant of Peru's iconic chef Gaston Acurio, to try causa, stuffed mashed potatoes; grilled octopus; chupe de camarones, river prawns soup; and tacu tacu. The afternoon is yours to spend at your leisure, but we will regroup in the early evening to visit the Huaca Pucllana, one of the few remaining pre-Incan ruins in Lima, for a tour and elegant dinner. Overnight at the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel.
DAY 3: Lima (B, L, D)
In the late 19th century, Chinese and Japanese migrant workers made their way to Peru. Today, we will taste the sashimis, salty sauces and stir-fries they've introduced into Peruvian cuisine. A visit to old and new Lima and the city's bustling Chinatown shows us the depth of Peru's Asian influence. En route back to Miraflores, we stop at Chez Wong to watch master chef Javier Wong, a veteran of the famous Madrid Fusion culinary festival, fillet fish for our lunch of ceviche and steaming stir-fries. After a siesta, we will meet again to walk through the bohemian neighborhood of Barranco, stopping at art galleries and undestanding Lima's creativity, before dinner at Costanera 700, the Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant of Nobu-trained chef Humberto Sato. Overnight at the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel.
DAY 4: Lima (B, L, D)
Long before the Inca lived in Peru, multiple cultures populated the country's coasts and mountains. This morning, when we explore the private Larco Herrera Archeological Museum, we'll see the brilliantly crafted weavings and pottery of these cultures. At lunch, we try traditional jungle ingredients in San Isidro's trend-setting Malabar restaurant, and in the afternoon, Carlos Moreno of Kromos Produce, a Peruvian food export company, joins us to talk about Peru's native chiles and potatoes. At night in the intimate dining room of Gaston Acurio's most famous restaurant Astrid y Gaston, the day's medley of native ingredients and savvy cooking come together in an unbeatable meal of new Peruvian cuisine. Overnight at the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel.
DAY 5: Lima/Mancora (L)
We will hop an early morning flight to the northern town of Piura. Our transport will meet us at the airport and carry us on to Mancora, where we will check into our beachfront Hotel DCO. A light lunch and short rest will ready us for our afternoon Peruvian cooking classes. Taught by chef Raul Gonzales, today’s class will feature typical Peruvian hot appetizers. Our cooking will culminate in a shared, group dinner, before we are taxied back to the hotel for a night of restful sleep.
DAY 6: Mancora (B, L)
After a leisurely breakfast in the open-air restaurant of the hotel, we will meet Chef Gonzales for a cooking class. The day's emphasis is seafood-based risottos and rices. A morning of chopping, browning, and boiling will lead to our midday meal, which we will share will Chef Gonzales. We will taxi back to the hotel, where you can spend the afternoon relaxing. If you have previously coordinated a beach activity with the Pica Peru staff, your activity details will be awaiting. Dinner is on your own.
DAY 7: Mancora (B, L, D)
Breakfast will be served under the hotel palm trees. Late morning we will again meet up with Chef Gonzales. Typical fish dishes are the inspiration of today's cooking class. Our creations will again be sampled and shared in a group lunch. Transfer to the hotel will be provided. The afternoon may be wiled away or filled with a previously programmed beach activity. Rested from the afternoon, we will regroup and taxi into the center of Mancora, where we will dine at Chef Seminario's Sirena restaurant.
DAY 8: Mancora (B, L, D)
Hotel DCO will once again serve us breakfast, before we motor off to our last cooking class with Chef Gonzales. We will prepare a light lunch of typical Peruvian cold appetizers, like ceviche and papa a la huancaína. A transport will meet us after lunch and carry us back to Piura, where we will catch a late afternoon flight back to Lima. In Lima, a shuttle will take us back to the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores hotel and a farewell dinner in Barranco's La 73 restaurant.
DAY 9: Mancora/Lima (B)
Breakfast will be served in the hotel. If you are connecting to an international or domestic flight, Pica Peru will provide your airport shuttle. Pica Peru's list of "What-to-do-in Lima" should fill any free hours you have around town.
OPTIONAL:
*To upgrade your hotel option to the waterfront Miraflores Park Hotel, owned and operated by the famed Orient Express group, please contact Pica Peru staff.
*If you are interested in connecting your Lima-Mancora culinary vacation with a trip to Machu Picchu and Cusco or another Peru destination, Pica Peru can help arrange your trip details. Please be in touch with one of our staff members to coordinate.
With advance notice, Pica Peru can coordinate customized Peruvian culinary vacations.
