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**actifadepette** · 06-22-2011, 02:36 AM

Elok, tell me about the potatoes. I hear there are many varieties of potato which are grown only in Peru and no where else but which are common in most markets. Supposedly taste, color, size, and shape are all different while some are soft and others hard so they can be used differently in cooking. Lastly, tell us about the roast guinea pig.

Well, there are indeed a crap-ton of different varieties. You can go to a market and find a number of them--the Mercado Virgen Assunta in Huancaro, for example, has an entire quarter of its area devoted solely to potatoes. You can tell at least a few varieties apart by color and shape. Sadly, we only got to cook one variety; our apartments weren't really set up for proper cooking, just a gas range and a few rickety pots. With that and the drinking water problem it was a pain in the ass cooking anything, so we mostly just ate out. The fries you get in restaurants all seem to be of the same variety fries in America are made of, or else a very similar one. Maybe that's an affect of American culture rubbing off or something, I don't know.

Cuy (the Peruvian name for guinea pig) is a somewhat common dish. They usually just roast the things whole, like real pigs at a luau. You can go to the market at Plaza Tupac Amaru in Cusco on weekends and they'll have a whole mini-restaurant set up with stacks of roast cuy on spits. The hair's gone, but they're sitting there with their faces scrunched up and their mouths gaping open, piled like cordwood. A wee piggy holocaust. They're all reddish. I'm told the meat is rather sweet, but like I said, I didn't touch the things. Sorry I can't be of much help.

PH, it's actually been raining off and on the last couple of days here. It might just be that you visited at a different time of year? Funny thing is, this is supposed to be the start of the dry season, or so I thought. It was certainly dry in Cusco--didn't rain once the whole month. Who knows? The temperature is certainly nice, though. I hear it's like May in Maryland, year-round.

The best anticuchos I've had so far were sold at the Lima airport, believe it or not. This little shop in the food court was selling them, and those were the only anticuchos de corazon I've had with decent-sized hunks of meat, with a little red in the center. Juicy and delicious. Of course, that might mean they modified the recipe to suit my bozo American tastes, and proper anticuchos should be little ribbons. Oh well. Also at the airport food court: a restaurant called Manos Morenas, which translates to "black woman hands." I'd assume my dictionary was at fault, except it has a 'do-rag wearing cartoon mascot beside the name. It appears to be something of a chain. I believe they'll have problems if they try exporting it to the Estados Unidos, where more than one person in 1500 is black.

BTW, if any of you live in the D.C. area, there's a chain called Perchi's ( www.perchismd.com , I think) that serves Peruvian food. I went to the one in Glen Burnie before I left, and it was pretty good. Pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado, bisteck a lo pobre...no anticuchos, though.

DaShi, if it was such a wall of text, why did you quote the whole thing? Sheesh.

06-22-2011, 02:36 AM	#7
actifadepette Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 438 Senior Member	Elok, tell me about the potatoes. I hear there are many varieties of potato which are grown only in Peru and no where else but which are common in most markets. Supposedly taste, color, size, and shape are all different while some are soft and others hard so they can be used differently in cooking. Lastly, tell us about the roast guinea pig. Well, there are indeed a crap-ton of different varieties. You can go to a market and find a number of them--the Mercado Virgen Assunta in Huancaro, for example, has an entire quarter of its area devoted solely to potatoes. You can tell at least a few varieties apart by color and shape. Sadly, we only got to cook one variety; our apartments weren't really set up for proper cooking, just a gas range and a few rickety pots. With that and the drinking water problem it was a pain in the ass cooking anything, so we mostly just ate out. The fries you get in restaurants all seem to be of the same variety fries in America are made of, or else a very similar one. Maybe that's an affect of American culture rubbing off or something, I don't know. Cuy (the Peruvian name for guinea pig) is a somewhat common dish. They usually just roast the things whole, like real pigs at a luau. You can go to the market at Plaza Tupac Amaru in Cusco on weekends and they'll have a whole mini-restaurant set up with stacks of roast cuy on spits. The hair's gone, but they're sitting there with their faces scrunched up and their mouths gaping open, piled like cordwood. A wee piggy holocaust. They're all reddish. I'm told the meat is rather sweet, but like I said, I didn't touch the things. Sorry I can't be of much help. PH, it's actually been raining off and on the last couple of days here. It might just be that you visited at a different time of year? Funny thing is, this is supposed to be the start of the dry season, or so I thought. It was certainly dry in Cusco--didn't rain once the whole month. Who knows? The temperature is certainly nice, though. I hear it's like May in Maryland, year-round. The best anticuchos I've had so far were sold at the Lima airport, believe it or not. This little shop in the food court was selling them, and those were the only anticuchos de corazon I've had with decent-sized hunks of meat, with a little red in the center. Juicy and delicious. Of course, that might mean they modified the recipe to suit my bozo American tastes, and proper anticuchos should be little ribbons. Oh well. Also at the airport food court: a restaurant called Manos Morenas, which translates to "black woman hands." I'd assume my dictionary was at fault, except it has a 'do-rag wearing cartoon mascot beside the name. It appears to be something of a chain. I believe they'll have problems if they try exporting it to the Estados Unidos, where more than one person in 1500 is black. BTW, if any of you live in the D.C. area, there's a chain called Perchi's ( www.perchismd.com , I think) that serves Peruvian food. I went to the one in Glen Burnie before I left, and it was pretty good. Pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado, bisteck a lo pobre...no anticuchos, though. DaShi, if it was such a wall of text, why did you quote the whole thing? Sheesh.
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