Peru for Two

I picked up a book on authentic Latin cuisine and in reading it I have discovered another plethora of edibles that I never knew existed. I can only hope to one day try them for myself and try to distinguish the different flavors of the seemingly endless array of hot peppers. When I first started this project one of my low-carb friends sent me a recipe for Peruvian Cauliflower. Naturally, it's a very low-carb recipe, and it's also quite easy to make. It's essentially cauliflower in a cumin and egg batter, which is tasty enough. I did some searching for more Peruvian recipes and discovered that, much like the results for my Brazilian Dinner, that the food is fairly basic. Flank steak, seafood, potatoes, corn and/or rice seem to comprise the majority of meals, often flavored with vinegar, aji peppers and black olives. Sweet potatoes and plantains make an appearance, as well as a lot of hard-cooked eggs.

The national dish of Peru is cebiche (ceviche, which is like pickled shrimp). Next in line seems to be roasted guinea pig. Following as a close third is Lomo Saltado, which is basically a beef stirfry. I prepared it without the beef, which is essentially like making egg salad without the eggs. It still holds up as a hearty side dish of slightly spicy potatoes with peppers and tomato. I included the recipe with beef, which is probably that much better.

The reason I didn't add the beef is because we were already having pork; Peruvian Pork with Aji, to be specific. I can't obtain actual aji peppers, but the recipe suggested I use jalapenos instead. The aji sauce is bright green and, although spicy, adds a nice light, palette cleansing brightness to the meat. The mildly pickled onions were also a nice touch. I grilled the pork and the spices (turmeric and cumin) made it taste not unlike the grilled Tandoori Chicken I made last month. The vinegar definitely helps to tenderize the meat without imposing a flavor upon it.