Cuzqueña Cuisine

Now that I'm settled into my routine here I can give you a little peek into some of the finer details of daily life here, starting with one of my favorite topics- food! Cusco boasts some of the freshest and healthiest cuisine in the world and, in addition to housing my new favorite grain- quinua, Peru is home to over 2000 species of potato. Needless to say, potatoes are of huge importance to the Peruvian diet. I personally think that Jaqueli's breaded and fried yucca are the best thing I've had since landing in Perú, but I have probably tried only 4 species of potato since arriving, so I guess I've got a long way to go before I can make such a claim.

A typical almuerzo (lunch- the largest meal of the day) includes some sort of meat, usually chicken or beef, a serving of rice, and a side of potatoes (so far I've had everything from fresh french fries to fried and breaded yucca). Jaqueli, being the loving and caring mother that she is, always serves huge portions of her delicious cooking and makes extra dishes, like a salad of salted avocados, tomatoes, and onions, to ensure that everyone leaves the table full and happy. As it is the largest meal of the day, everyone comes home from work or school around 1 to eat and rest before returning to the day's duties for a second shift that starts around 3.

Breakfast, el desayuno, and dinner, la cena, are typically much smaller meals and often consist of a simple serving of tea or mate and bread with butter, jam, or dulce de leche. However, due to Jaqueli's endless generosity (and my botomless stomach), I have gotten to explore several other versions of my first and last meals of the day. She has made me jam- or dulce de leche-filled crepes, yogurt and granola, toasted bread with cheese, omlettes, scrambles, and fried eggs in the mornings, cooking up hamburgers, meat sandwiches, soups, and endless french fries for me to eat at night.

As I mentioned above, mate is a central part of Cuzqueñan meals; I've been drinking at least 5 cups a day, especially at night to stay warm in the cold cement buildings. Cuzqueñans differentiate mate from normal tea in that it contains no caffeine or added sugars and is a 100% natural herbal tea. Some of my favorite mates have been coca (yes- from the plant that makes cocaine, but here the leaves are used not as a drug but as an herbal aid for the altitude adjustment), hierba luisa, and manzanilla (for the stomach).

Mate, as is the case with every drink here, is taken with sugar- and LOTS of it. In fact, sugar is such an integral part of Peruvian food that it has replaced artificial sweeteners like corn syrup in almost all processed food (making the Coca Cola and ketchup here SO much more delicious, and naturally sweet!).

I'm including a few pictures so you can get a better idea of the delicious food I have been eating here. Though adjusting to the large amount of meat Cuzqueñans eat has been tricky, I have had no problem at all getting used to the fulfilling starches and delicious sweets that I have been able to enjoy during my time here.