Peruvian gastronomy is recognized worldwide for its diversity of flavors, ingredients and culinary techniques. Here are some unmissable dishes that you must try.

SOUPS

• Shrimp Chupe: Thick soup made with shrimp, milk, cheese, eggs and aromatic herbs. It is a very comforting and tasty dish. This dish is very common in the coast of Peru.
• Caldo de Gallina: Chicken broth with noodles and vegetables, ideal for comforting the soul. On the first day of a visit to Cusco, this dish can be very ideal, because it is so light.
• Sopa a la Criolla: Beef soup, noodles, onion, tomato, yellow bell pepper and spices, accompanied by egg and cheese.
• Sara Lawa or Crema de Maíz: Thick soup made with corn, chicken, aromatic herbs and spices. This dish is light and originates from the Peruvian Andes.
• Sopa de Quinua: A nutritious and comforting soup prepared with quinoa, a very nutritious Andean grain, mixed with vegetables and chicken or beef. This dish is originally from the Andes of Peru.

MAIN DISHES

• Ceviche: Fresh fish or seafood marinated in lime, chili, red onion and cilantro.
• Arroz con Mariscos: Rice cooked with a variety of seafood, garlic, onion and aji amarillo.
• Causa Limeña: Yellow potato pie stuffed with chicken, tuna or seafood, seasoned with mayonnaise and aji.
• Lomo Saltado: Sautéed beef with onion, tomato, aji amarillo and french fries, served with rice.
• Aji de Gallina: Shredded chicken stew in a cream of aji amarillo, nuts, milk and soaked bread.
• Anticuchos: Marinated and grilled beef heart skewers, served with potatoes and aji sauce.
• Papa a la Huancaína: Potatoes cooked in slices with a cream of aji amarillo, cheese and crackers.
• Rocoto Relleno: Rocoto peppers stuffed with meat and other ingredients, bathed in a milk and walnut sauce.
• Chicharrón: Fried and crispy pork, accompanied by sweet potato and creole salad.
• Cuy Chactado: Fried guinea pig accompanied by potatoes and salad.
• Cuy al Horno: Guinea pig, a traditional animal from the Peruvian Andes, is baked in the oven with herbs and spices.
• Trucha a la plancha: Grilled fresh trout, usually served with potatoes and salad.
• Pachamanca: Assorted meat dishes (pork, chicken, lamb) and tubers cooked underground with hot stones.

DESSERTS

• Suspiro a la Limeña: A classic and creamy dessert made with condensed milk, sugar, egg yolks, cinnamon and a touch of sweet wine. It is served with a layer of meringue on top.
• Tres Leches: A fluffy cake soaked with a mixture of three types of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. It is sweet and delicious.
• Picarones: A kind of donut made with sweet potato and pumpkin, fried and dipped in chancaca syrup (brown sugar dissolved in water).
• Mazamorra Morada: A dessert made with purple corn, dried fruits and spices, thickened with purple corn flour. It is served cold and is perfect for refreshment.
• Alfajores: Soft, sweet cookies filled with manjar blanco (dulce de leche) and often sprinkled with powdered sugar.
• Arroz con Leche: A dessert made with rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon and raisins. It is creamy and comforting.
• Turrón de Doña Pepa: An iconic Lima sweet that is consumed especially during the Señor de los Milagros festival in October. It is made with a dough of flour, sugar and butter, bathed in chancaca honey and decorated with aniseed and colored candies.

Typical Peruvian food

Peruvian cuisine tends to be spicy and well seasoned, using garlic, aji amarillo, and aromatic herbs such as oregano and huacatay as main ingredients. In addition, the main dishes are usually accompanied with potatoes and rice.

Coast food

Coastal cuisine is divided into seafood and Creole food. The most famous dishes are based on seafood or fish. The most representative typical dishes of the coast are:

• From Seafood: The chupe de camarones (Arequipa); ceviche, which consists of a combination of fresh fish and seafood marinated in lemon juice; choritos a la chalaca (Callao), tiradito, leche de tigre, leche de tigre, parihuela and others.
• Creole food: Aji de gallina, carapulca, escabeche de pollo, arroz con pollo, tacu tacu, arroz con pato, cau cau; lomo saltado is one of the typical Peruvian dishes that was born thanks to the fusion of Peruvian and Chinese oriental cuisine and consists of pieces of meat fried with onion and tomato; pollo a la brasa, causa a la limeña, anticuchos, among others.

Ceviche is a traditional Peruvian dish.

Food from the highlands

The main ingredients of highland food are corn, potatoes and other tubers. Some of the most representative dishes of the Andean cuisine are pachamanca, huatia, huancaína potato, ocopa and others.

• Pachamanca: It is a typical Peruvian dish, prepared by cooking beef, pork, chicken and guinea pig, in addition to other inputs, under the heat of stones that are heated with the combustion of firewood.
• Papa a la huancaína: Consists of boiled potatoes covered with a cream made of cheese, oil, salt, aji amarillo and milk.

Pachamanca, typical dish of the Andean cuisine of Peru.

Jungle food

The jungle cuisine is characterized by the traditional consumption of meats such as huangana, suri, tapir, armadillo, turtles, choro monkeys and others.

The most popular dishes of the Peruvian jungle cuisine are the juanes, tacacho with jerky, inchicapi, patarashca and chonta salad.

• Juane: Juane is made with rice, chicken meat, olives, boiled eggs, among other spices, which are wrapped in a bijao leaf and boiled for an hour and a half.
• Tacacho con cecina: The dish consists of a dough of plantain, pork, lard and salt called tacacho along with a piece of cecina and a piece of chorizo.

Tacacho con cecina, a typical dish of Peruvian jungle cuisine.

Typical drinks of Peruvian Gastronomy

• Pisco
• Chicha morada
• Coca tea
• Chicha de jora

Pisco is considered the national drink of Peru and comes from 8 different types of grapes: Quebranta grape, Uvina grape, Mollar grape, Negra Criolla grape, Italia grape, Albilla grape, Moscatel grape and Torontel grape.

Types of pisco

• Pure Pisco
• Green must
• Acholado
• Aromatic

Note: Pisco can be used to make the traditional pisco sour cocktail, as well as the Pisco Punch, the Tacna sour and the Chilcano.

The pisco sour is a traditional Peruvian cocktail.

Typical sweets of Peruvian Gastronomy

Picarones

Picarones are traditional sweets in Peruvian gastronomy and their presentation is in the form of rings made of wheat flour dough, pumpkin and sweet potato coated with the sugar cane sweet called chancaca.

The picarones are usually offered in the religious processions of the country, especially in the procession of the Señor de los Milagros in Lima.

The picarones are made of corn flour, pumpkin and sweet potato.

Suspiro a la limeña

The suspiro a la limeña is a traditional Peruvian dessert that has its origin in the city of Lima. The suspiro a la limeña consists of a sweet cream based on milk, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla essence, covered with meringue based on egg whites, port wine and sugar.

The suspiro a la limeña is usually served in a glass, first the cream and then the meringue and accompanied by cinnamon powder for decoration.

Mazamorra morada

Mazamorra morada is a typical dessert in Peruvian gastronomy and its elaboration is based on purple corn concentrated with cornstarch. The dessert is usually accompanied by rice pudding and is called "classic" or "combined".

The mazamorra morada is a very nutritious dessert, since it contains a great amount of fiber in its nuts and thanks to this it helps to avoid constipation.

Zambito rice

Arroz zambito is a dessert originally from Peru and its origin derives from rice pudding. The dessert basically consists of rice pudding plus pecans, blond raisins and chancaca, the last one is what adds the characteristic brown color of zambito rice.

Zambito rice is very healthy, as it provides the body with minerals such as calcium, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc and iron, as well as vitamins and other essential nutrients for the body.

We as ANDINO PERU TOURS, invite you to enjoy this unique gastronomic experience while exploring the incredible landscapes and cultures that this beautiful country Peru has to offer.