Peruvian foods you have to try

As someone who has watched their fair share of travel shows, I’ve come to regard Peru as a country in the midst of a culinary renaissance. I’m not sure exactly where this notion originated but my opinion was formed and largely influenced by Anthony Bourdain and other travel shows. Having finally traveled to Peru myself, I can say from experience that Peruvian cuisine deserves to be recognized.

Even while visiting neighboring Chile, it seemed that we encountered more Peruvian restaurants than Chilean ones! Beyond the ubiquitous empanadas and rice and beans, which can be found all over South and Central America, the Peruvian culinary experience extends to dishes where the secret lies in the sauce. So before we all get lost in it, let me cover some of the basics that are a must try when you visit.

Lomo Saltado

This dish translates literally to ‘sautéed tenderloin’. It is offered almost everywhere. Every street vendor, hole-in-the-wall bar, 5-star restaurant, and Peruvian grandma has this dish available on stand-by. You can even buy pre-made meal kits with sauce at some grocery stores. In the most basic form, it is made of thinly sliced strips of beef tenderloin, no bigger than your pinky, and some seasoned rice. But the sauce is what really makes this dish arguably the most popular food choice in the country.

Lomo saltado served with french fries and rice. Photo Credit: Kirsty Tsalyuk.

The way the sauce is prepared varies depending on availability of ingredients and the customs in a particular province, but generally consists of Peruvian ají pepper, soy sauce, and tomato paste. Sometimes served with a small salad of greens and tomatoes, this simple yet savory dish is filling enough to get you through most of the day! I particularly enjoy this dish because of the ease of consuming it – you need only a fork. When I envision a typical steak dish, a knife is required for cutting the meat. The Lomo saltado removes the need for other utensils from the transaction between plate and mouth.

• Flavor: juicy
• Spiciness: low 🌶
• Consistency: tender

Ají De Gallina

Another dish that is virtually inescapable in Peru is the Ají de Gallina. In English, this dish means ‘chicken chili stew’, or something of the sorts. It was originally brought to Peru by African slaves in the 16th century and has become a sort of comfort food ever since. As you might have guessed, the main ingredient here is chicken. Which by itself isn’t extraordinary, but the way it is prepared most definitely is! The chicken is pulled into thin, short, almost twizzler-like pieces and mixed with a yellow sauce made of ground yellow chili pepper, walnuts, garlic, and a judicious dose of turmeric. The sauce itself is rather thick and not at all spicy. It has an almost creamy consistency.

Ají de gallina (I did not take this picture and don’t own the rights to it.)

The saucy-chickeny mix is served on top of a gloop of rice, so you can mix all that goodness together before you chomp down. Frequently, you’ll find the dish served with a baked potato, which is intended to also be mixed with the rice and chicken mix. As with the Lomo saltado, no bones or knives are needed to enjoy this delightful and filling dish.

• Flavor: tender and hearty
• Spiciness: low 🌶
• Consistency: creamy

Ceviche

Those familiar with geography will quickly realize that the Peruvian coastline stretches for hundreds of miles along the Pacific. Put 2 and 2 together and you’ll also realize that fresh seafood ought to be a staple of the Peruvian diet. Enter the Ceviche, a silvery cocktail of corvina (sea bass), squid and other seafood garnished with chili peppers, garlic, and lime juice. The origins of this mouth-watering mixture are hotly debated but Peruvians will tell you that ceviche definitely originated there. Recent studies have shown that the ceviche was consumed in Peru as far back as the Inca days.

The best ceviche’s are typically found near coastal towns and cities, for obvious reasons. As with most food, the fresher the better – no one wants to eat calamari that had to travel through 400 miles of desert to make it onto their plate! While perfect for sharing, we found that this dish was not filling enough by itself so I’d recommend ordering it as an appetizer/starter.

Ceviche served with corn on cob and potato slices

• Flavor: tangy & refreshing
• Spiciness: low 🌶
• Consistency: chewy

A Peruvian Sampler

The dishes above are just the tip of the iceberg of the Peruvian culinary experience. Although the Lomo saltado, Ají de gallina, and Ceviche are the most common and popular local foods, there are other favorites out there that we highly recommend. Digging a bit deeper into the menu, you’ll find options such as Papas a la Huacaína, a vegetarian starter dish made of baked potato doused in a yellow chili pepper sauce, similar to the Ají de gallina. You are also likely to come across the Receto Relleno, a ground-beef stuffed, red pepper with a bit of a kick to it. Another one of our favorites is called Palta a la Reina, which is a salad-like starter made of corn, peas, mayonnaise and diced carrots, all sandwiched between 2 halves of an avocado.

Birth of a Renaissance

All in all we found the Peruvian cuisine to be much more sophisticated and flavorful than the stereotypical corn-based, jalapeño infused empanadas you might be envisioning in your head. While it is true that the Inca’s and their ancestors relied heavily on various types of corn as a basic staple, we found that modern Peruvian cuisine has expanded far beyond that. For instance Lima has several Michelin starred restaurants, which require reservations months in advance just to get a table. For those looking for an exclusive dining experience,  Lima boasts 2 of the Top 10 restaurants in the world! You can have your pick of Michelin starred restaurants such as:

• Astrid y Gaston
• Maido
• Rafael
• Central

Lima boasts 2 of the Top 10 restaurants in the world, and several more in the Top 50. And in the trendy neighborhood of Miraflores, we encountered dozens of Japanese inspired fusion restaurants that blend traditional Peruvian dishes with sushi and other Japanese creations to pump out dishes that are visually dazzling as they are tasty.

Getting to Machu Picchu

While it’s true that there is information all over the internet on the widely discussed subject of Machu Picchu, after experiencing it first hand it became clear that there is a fair bit of noise out there and a concise guide would have been really helpful.

Getting There

Most people don’t realize how much work it actually is to get to this World Wonder. For Backpackers and the Outdoor Adventurer types, the preferred way to get there is to hike the Inca Trail. They might tell you that if you don’t hike it – why go at all? Personally I’d love to have hiked the whole 50 kilometers or whatever, but our time was short, so we did the simpler thing.

All it took was a 1.5 hour flight, a 2 hour bus ride and 2 hour train ride and we finally arrived in Aguas Calientes, or what’s commonly referred to as the Pueblo of Machu Picchu.

The Skinny Version

• ✈️ Flight from Lima -> Cusco (1.5 hours)
• 🚍 Bus from Cusco -> Ollaytantambo (2.5 hours)
• 🚂 Train from Ollaytantambo -> Agues Calientes (2 hours)
• 🚍 Bus from Aguas Calientes -> Machu Picchu Entrance (25 minutes)

Along the Way 

We found a cheap, budget flight to Cusco from Lima. You can get tickets for as cheap as $65. When booking flights I always search first on Google Flights, as they seem to aggregate the best results and don’t seem to charge any extra fee for their service. Once I find the flight I’m interested in I usually book it directly from the airlines website. If the website seems poorly made or hard to navigate, I take it as a warning sign that the flight experience may be turbulent.

Cusco

While in Cusco, use the opportunity to secure your tickets to get into the Machu Picchu site. The basic ticket costs $45 and is sold at the Ministry of Cultura office or you can buy them online here. When you arrive, you will soon realize that you are at pretty high altitude. At over 11,000 feet, Cusco is more than double the elevation of Denver! For most people, altitude sickness typically kicks in after 8,000ft so you need to prepare accordingly. There are medications such as Diamox which can help, but I’m not a shaman, so check with your doctor before consuming. The locals drink coca tea or chew coca leaves (no, this is not the same as cocaine), which you can buy legally in Peru and is sold in most markets in Cusco for very cheap.

The Bus to Ollaytantambo

The bus ride from Cusco was surprisingly pleasant and incredibly scenic. Our bus left Cusco at 5am and by 7:30am we arrived in Ollaytantambo. That is a mouthful. This little town is right in the heart of the Sacred Valley and is situated right along the Urubamba river, 20 minutes from the town of Urubamba.

The Sacred Valley

Train from Poroy Station (Ollaytantambo) to Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes)

Kirsty and I booked our bus/train through PeruRail, though there is another company called Inca Rail which seemed equally as good. At about $60 per person, these tickets cost almost as much as the airfare to get to Cusco! It is very important to book this in advance. If you allotted a week for Cusco & the Sacred Valley then you might get away with booking once you arrive in Cusco, but why risk it. February isn’t even peak season for Machu Picchu but our bus and train were both completely packed. The PeruRail staff were very punctual, orderly, and professional. This is in contrast with other parts of Peru which seemed more laid back and chaotic. Driving laws for example, are non-existent. One could theoretically drive all the way to Agues Calientes but besides the mountainous roads, you have to deal with Peruvian drivers, some of whom will casually pass you on a double-yellow line, around a bend, on the side of a mountain, with a sheer vertical drop.

The Poroy Station in Ollaytantambo

The train ride can be classified as an experience in itself. It follows the Urubamba river – and I’m talking RIGHT. ALONG. THE RIVER. So for almost 2 hours you can see this raging beauty as you wonder how the hell the Inca’s ever found this place in the first place. I also found myself wondering how the Peruvians built this impressive railroad through the mountains yet much of the houses in the countryside lacked a roof. The rail cars themselves were especially impressive. The seats were big and comfortable and the roof was partially made of glass so one can peer out into the vast valley and see the peaks of mountains in the distance.

Aguas Calientes

The train drops you off in Aguas Calientes, which is at the base of Machu Picchu. In Spanish, Aguas Calientes literally means ‘hot waters’ and the town is true to its name, with thermal springs that are open to visitors located at the top of the town. Before arriving, be prepared for the onslaught of street vendors who want to sell you llama keychains and alpaca hats. The town is the definition of a ‘tourist trap’. But Kirsty and I still found it picturesque.

Aguas Calientes

We stayed here for a night and hiked Machu Picchu the next morning but many people took the early morning bus/train, did the hike, and then took the same way back to Cusco all in a single day. This is definitely doable and works if you are really tight on time.

Machu Picchu – The Citadel City of the Inca

Once you arrive, you still need to find a way to get into the Machu Picchu site. They say when the Spanish conquistadores were in Peru, they never knew about this Incan treasure and it wasn’t until 1911 when an American explorer named Hiram Bingham came across the site and stunned the rest of the world with its existence. That’s because that even from the base of Aguas Calientes, you still must climb over a mile just to get to the entrance of the site!

 

Before you arrive, make sure you book your tickets for the actual site. It’s easy to overlook this part but it is best to do this in advance. Due to its popularity, Machu Picchu is limited to 800 visitors at a time. An additional 400 people are allowed to visit Huayna Picchu, which is the top most mountain peak you see in all the photos. This is more expensive and is a very advanced hike with lots of sheer vertical drops and jaw-dropping views. Remember that MP sits at 8,000ft and there is less oxygen. While altitude sickness usually won’t be a factor, you should be properly hydrated when exploring and use sunscreen because the UV is extremely strong and will singe you even if you go early in the morning.

The basic ticket to Machu Picchu goes for $45 and they do sell out often. Each person is given a 4 hour time window to visit the site so that not all 800 people go at once. It does seem like you can buy them on site but there is no guarantee that the site won’t sell out for the day. You might often hear that you need a guide to tour the site, this is not accurate. There are simply not enough guides for every group of people, but you are welcome to try get one if you are interested. Most guides speak some English and will seek you out and offer their services without much work on your part.

With tickets in hand the last step is to find a way to the entrance. There is a bus that can take you from the town entrance in Aguas Calientes, to the entrance of Machu Picchu. The bus is surprisingly expensive, at $12 per person, each way. Its only a 30 minute ride and tickets are available at a counter near the bus stop. The first bus goes up to the site at 5:30am and they run every 5-10 minutes or so.

If hiking is more your thing, you can follow the trail up to the entrance. The distance is not far and takes about 1.5 hours each way. But it does include some killer stairs. Almost 1km of straight stairs! When you get to the top and start exploring the site, you begin to realize just why people go so far out of their way to get there.

They say that the site was built as an estate for an Incan king in the 1500’s and that up to 1000 people lived here at a time. But after only 80 years, the site was abandoned and there is much debate as to why.

The Mystery Continues…

Why go through the trouble of building something so magnificent only to leave? Even more impressive is the engineering feats that the Inca’s were able to accomplish in just 80 years. I have a hard time believing that this was even possible. That only 1000 people built all this at an elevation of 8600ft without machine tools in just 80 years?

The terraces used for farming are so vast they seem to go on forever. And the stones used in the temples are just massive and so precisely cut. Seeing it in person you can’t help but wonder if it has been around much longer than people realize. The enigmatic history and the breathtaking landscape make Machu Picchu well worth the effort to get there!