Today is a whole day tour to Sacred Valley with several other stops on the way. After visiting several archaeologically important spots, we took a break at a local empanada shop. Their empanadas are baked in a home-made oven. According to the guide, even within Peru, each region has their own style. The dough of the empanada we had was less flaky and more bread-like than what I usually have in the US.
The restaurant for lunch was selected by the guide. It was a typical buffet for tourists. I’m glad it’s not a buffet with pizza and spaghetti but all the Peruvian foods including regional food. Also, the server brought complimentary pisco sour (national cocktail made with pisco, lime juice, syrup, and egg white). It was quite tangy.
Three noteworthy dishes/ingredient are trucha (trout) cebiche, relleno and oca. Usually cebiche is made with saltwater seafoods. However, the Cuzco - Machu Picchu region is so far from the sea that they use fresh water fish, trout, instead. It was a bit on the tangy side but I didn’t taste the typical muddiness that I often taste from freshwater fish. Probably the extra acid masks the muddiness?
Peruvian relleno is quite different from Mexican chile relleno. First, it’s smaller and the chili they use can be pretty spicy. This restaurant had two relleno, green and red. The red one was quite spicy. Also, the filling was not cheese (queso) but meat and veggies. Pretty good.
When I saw oca, I was so excited. I asked the guide immediately to confirm whether this is oca. When I was a culinary school student, each student had to make a presentation about an unusual ingredient. I chose oca, which is a Peruvian tuber, which looks like a worm and comes with different color. Once cooked, though, the color dissipates. It tastes like some sort of potato but it leaves an unusual tangy aftertaste. This restaurant simply roasted with other vegetables. I was so glad that I could actually taste oca in Peru!
After we came back to Cuzco, we went to a local market and tasted some unique fruits. The orange-colored fruit in the middle of the photo below is like passion fruit but less tangy. It's called granadilla. The flavor is somewhat close to lychee. I loved it.
Pepino dulce - This looks like tomatillo. But the flavor is close to melon.
This fruit is called lucuma. It is very difficult to describe the flavor and texture of the fruit. It’s as creamy and rich as an avocado or cherimoya but the texture is a bit starchy like a cooked sweet potato. The flavor is a bit like vanilla ice cream. In fact, lucuma ice cream is quite popular. I have to try it before I leave Peru.
For dinner I went to Pachapapa, which is one of the most highly rated restaurants in Cuzco. Here, I found a Peruvian wine and tried it. It was a red blend of Cabernet Saugvignon and Syrah. The neighboring countries, such as Chile and Argentina, are getting quite famous for their wine but Peru is not famous yet. There is a wine region in Ica, which is close to Nazca. It was a pretty decent wine.
The meal started with two appetizers, smoked trout causa and a regional soup. The soup was very hearty but it was lacking flavor and seasoning. The causa was nicely seasoned but I didn’t really taste the smoked trout.
The two entrees are pork in red sauce and lamb in green sauce. They are both big but lacking in flavor. The red sauce was just tomatoey and the green sauce didn’t bring any flavor. Disappointing.
Dessert was tres de leches topped with strawberry sorbet. This dessert had a good sweetness level. And the strawberry sorbet tasted very fresh.
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