A Taste of Peru
Executive Chef Chandon Clenard and his team have created a three-course menu of native Peruvian cuisine, known for strong influences from African, Arab, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cooking.
Starter Options
Ceviche (also spelled as cebiche or seviche) is a form of citrus-marinated seafood appetizer with lemons and limes being the most commonly used. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured, which pickles or "cooks" the fish without heat. Peru is often noted as the birthplace of ceviche as the various Peruvian civilizations that arose in the Pre-Columbian period greatly depended on fishing.
Chupe de Camarones (made with shrimp) is widely popular among the Southern coastal region of Peru (originally from Arequipa). Shrimp chupe has become more widely eaten, as fresh shrimp become more common. The preparation consists of cooking potatoes and onions in butter, then adding various spices, such as chilli powder. Then, water, tomatoes, and some times chicken broth are added. Before serving the broth, it is mixed with milk.
Entrée
Tacu-Tacu, the most characteristic of Afro Peruvian recipes is traditionally a black bean and rice dish. Black Africans were brought by the Spanish during the Viceroyalty to work as slaves on the coastal plantations, and they introduced their own cooking styles and ingredients to the Peruvian melting pot.
Dessert
Picarones is a dessert popular in Peru that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its principal ingredients are squash and sweet potato. It is served in a doughnut form and covered with syrup, made from chancaca (solidified molasses). It is traditional to serve picarones when people prepare anticuchos, another traditional Peruvian dish. Picarones were created during the colonial period to replace Buñuelos as buñuelos were too expensive to make. People started replacing traditional ingredients with squash and sweet potato. Accidentally, they created a new dessert that rapidly increased in popularity throughout the country.
