Friday, May 25, 2012

Spicy Ceviche in the City of Kings - Lima Peru

Lima may not have the immediate allure of other Latin American cities, but this coastal capital isn’t lacking in culture or cuisine. It boasts pre-Inca sites and colonial mansions, and some real gastronomic delights. An amazing assortment of ingredients alights in Lima from the Andes and the Amazon, but it’s the fresh Pacific fish that everyone wants, transformed into ceviche.

More than 100 years ago, culinary revolutionary Auguste Escoffier ranked Peruvian cuisine third-best in the world, behind only French and Chinese. Some might scoff at the claim, but Peru has a rich cooking tradition, and the proof is in the pudding – or in this case, the fish.
Ask a Peruvian what their national dish is and more often than not the answer will be ceviche, small pieces of raw fish marinated, or “cooked,” in lime juice mingled with sliced hot chili peppers (ají limo) and red onions.
It’s served up as soon as the fish has become firm and opaque on the outside (about five minutes), with a wedge of cooked sweet potato, a chunk of fresh-cooked corn cob, and a frill of lettuce. The spicy juice from the ceviche marinade, called leche de tigre (tiger’s milk), is, locals say, the best hangover cure around.
The secret to a good ceviche is the combination of Peruvian lime, which has an unusually high acid content, with the freshest of fish. Limeños (the inhabitants of the city) insist, in fact, that ceviche be eaten only at lunchtime, when the fish is guaranteed to have come straight off the morning’s boats.
There is a long tradition of eating marinated fish in Peru. The Incas were fond of fish steeped in homemade corn beer and fruit juices, and cultures before them marinated fish with a fruit known as “tumbo,” a type of passion fruit. Later, the Spanish brought limes, lemons, and onions to the table, and Japanese immigrants introduced the sashimi sensibility. And it all comes together on the plate in Lima, the coastal city created by conquistadors in 1535.
Lima was the capital of the Spanish dominion in Latin America for almost 200 years. Remnants of this cultural boom-time remain in the centuries-old streets and buildings downtown, especially around Plaza Mayor, where it is obvious in the lavish carvings of enclosed wooden balconies, the ornate doorways, and the tranquil inner courtyards of the city’s mansions.
Farther afield, buzzing Barranco is dotted with the vacation villas of wealthy 19th-century Europeans, who flocked to the beaches here in summer. Peruvians have long had a love affair with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and tourists can witness this both in the friezes of antique ruins and in the restaurants, where ceviche still reigns supreme.


The Cathedral commands the view over Plaza Mayor, where the city was founded in 1535, and down the pedestrian-friendly Passage Santa Rosa

Best Places to Eat Ceviche

La Mar
Part of the expanding empire of restaurants run by Peru’s culinary ambassador and cordon-bleu-trained chef Gastón Acurio, La Mar is a lunch-only, seafood-focused destination, a cebicheria peruano (Peruvian ceviche restaurant). The restaurant doesn’t take reservations and the best way to secure a table is to arrive around noon, otherwise you’re likely to have a lengthy wait at the bar. Not that this is a bad thing, as they produce a great version of the pisco sour cocktail – fluffy, icy, and just a little bit addictive – as well as tempting snacks while you wait. There’s a whole list of ceviche on the menu, from clásico with hot chili pepper, tiger’s milk, and fresh fish, to tumbes – black scallops from the north of Peru, with octopus, mussels, calamari, and clams. Try the degustación: a selection of five ceviche to share, including clásico, tumbes, nikei (tuna), elegante (mixed fish), and mistura (shellfish, salmon, and fiercely hot green rocoto chili). There’s also tiradito, which is like a cross between carpaccio and sashimi: paper-fine slices of raw fish dressed with lime and chili pepper.
Avenida La Mar 770, Miraflores, Lima; open noon–5 PM Mon–Thu, noon–5:30 PM Fri, 11:45 AM–5:30 PM Sat–Sun; www.lamarcebicheria.com


The fresh white fish meat of ceviche is “cooked” by being steeped briefly in a marinade of lime juice and chili peppers

Also in Lima
Just down the road from La Mar, Pescados Capitales (www.pescadoscapitales.com; moderate) is another lunch-only seafood destination. The name is a pun on pescados (fish) and pecados (sins) and the menu plays up the “deadly fins” theme: ceviche comes under the heading pecado original (original sin), while main courses carry names such as “vanity,” “envy,” and “infidelity.” Ceviche at the restaurant features lenguado (sole), octopus, mixed fish and shellfish, and deep-sea cachema fish.
Also in Peru
The improbably named Big Ben (www. bigbenhuanchaco.com; inexpensive) is the oldest restaurant in the beach resort-fishing village of Huanchaco on Peru’s northern coast.
Pick a table on the umbrella-covered terrace upstairs with a view over the ocean and order a fresh-off-the-boat ceviche.
Around the World
Not content with conquering Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Panama, Colombia, and Peru, chef Gastón Acurio has opened a La Mar (www. lamarcebicheria.com; expensive) in San Francisco. Located at the Embarcadero waterfront, it serves up ceviche with a local flavor: mahi-mahi, calamari, and octopus with cilantro and yellow chili pepper marinade; Californian halibut in a classic marinade; and ahi tuna with Japanese cucumber, daikon, and avocado in tamarind-flavored tiger’s milk.
A Day in Lima
Lima is a cosmopolitan city that has embraced its varied past with gusto. Andean and Spanish influences abound in city neighborhoods, peppered with traces of Africa and Asia, all united by an unmistakable Peruvian vibe.
MORNING : Take a jaunt around the city’s colonial center, visiting San Francisco Monastery with its religious art collection and bone-packed crypt. Loiter in front of the Presidential Palace around 11:45 AM to see the changing of the guard, then walk down Jirón de la Unión to French-influenced Plaza Saint Martín.
AFTERNOON : Hightail it to Miraflores to walk the clifftop parks, past the blackand- white lighthouse to the Parque del Amor (“Love Park”), which has sinuous mosaic walls inlaid with love adages and a colossal sculpture of a couple kissing.
Finish up in smart-bohemian Barranco at the showy Museo Pedro de Osma.
EVENING : Catch a taxi down to Cala, the beachfront lounge bar-restaurant below the Barranco cliffs, and order a pisco sour – a cocktail of Peruvian brandy, lemon juice, egg white, and sugar syrup – and a ceviche scallop roll, then sit back and watch the Pacific waves ebb and flow.


The Parque del Amor in Miraflores is lined with long,undulating mosaic benches covered in quotes from Peruvian poets

Getting to Lima - Peru
Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport lies 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the city. Take an official, registered taxi from the airport to the city.

Where to stay in Peru

Hostal El Patio (inexpensive) is a basic but comfortable hotel in central Miraflores with a cool, leafy courtyard. www.hostalelpatio.net
Second Home Peru (moderate) is the Barranco home of Peruvian sculptor Victor Delfin, and now a stylish guesthouse with sea views and five airy bedrooms. www.secondhomeperu.com
Hotel Country Club (expensive) in upmarket San Isidro is a deluxe 1920s hacienda-style hotel. www.hotelcountry.com
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.peru.info
What Else to Eat
Lima’s cuisine and restaurants are gaining a worldwide reputation for freshness and creativity, embracing Chinese, Italian, Japanese, African, and Andean influences. This is especially evident in lomo saltado, a stir-fry with a distinct Peruvian twist: alongside strips of beef, onion, tomatoes, chili peppers, and garlic come fried potatoes and rice. Try it at José Antonio (www.joseantonio.com. pe). Another favorite is causa: cool, yellow mashed potato mixed with lime juice and chili paste and layered with avocado, mayonnaise, and tuna; Astrid & Gaston (www.astridygaston.com) makes a good one. Papas rellenas, potato croquettes stuffed with minced meat, hard-boiled egg, and olives are a Creole favorite. Brujas de Cachiche (www.brujasdecachiche.com.pe) serves them with a tangy, lime-infused salsa criolla.

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