Peru: best ceviche and pisco sour recipe
To mark Peru celebrating its Independence Day today (Jul 28), Tom describes his joy at learning how to make its iconic national drink and dish on a day tour in Lima.
Ceviche and pisco sour are the staples behind Peru’s deserved and burgeoning foodie reputation.
He writes:
“There were dozens of fruits and vegetables I’d never seen before.
“Go on, try it.” The guide was wafting a small, spiky green fruit under my nose.
The vendor and guide said something to each other and laughed as I bit down.
It tasted of tropics, of unknown sugars and the natural version of that forgotten ‘80s classic drink, Lilt. I still have no idea what it was, I’ve never seen it since.
Market tour
This was how it had started, our market tour of Lima, Mercardo Surquillo.
We, a group of eight, day tourists, completely flabbergasted by the array of fruits, vegetables, dried who-knows-what and more that were on display.
Peru has developed a ferocious culinary reputation and it’s easy to see why. The country has more variety of raw material for recipes than anywhere else I’ve been.
The mountains bring good meats, quinao and cereals plus more than 3,000 potato types. The Amazon tomatoes, fruits and vegetables of unimaginable sizes and shapes. The Pacific an abundance of incredible fish.
From aji limo to aji mirasol and aji panca to cumin – plus fresh limes, chirimoya and lucuma fruits – this place really is a feast for your senses.
Rosa Nautica
Later we headed to La Rosa Nautica, arguably the best ceviche restaurant in Peru, to learn how to make said ceviche dish, plus pisco sours.
Perched above the Pacific sea, this is one of Lima’s iconic restaurants.
First up, we prepared the pisco as an appetizer. Check our own Alan’s recipe. Delicious.
But with only two of the eight partaking of alcohol, I enjoyed the Pisco tasting rather well.
It did, however, somewhat curtail my participation in the ceviche section.
Ceviche
My teammates stepped in to prepare the classic ceviche, Peru’s national dish, made with fresh fish caught that day and a mixture of limes, onions and coriander.
Remarkably simple, the trick appeared to be to get the very best ingredients from the market, plus exact amounts of said ingredients, and plenty of love and care.
It was truly a fantastic dish and went really well with the pisco appetizer. I wobbled back to my hotel for a well-earned siesta, and would recommend this tour to anyone.
Not only do you get to try two national treasures of Peru, but you see an incredible market and eat at the famous Rosa Nautica.
