Peru: A Tapestry of Restaurant, Street and Market Food (plus a recipe for Quinoa Soup)

Ceviche (cebiche) is Peru's flagship dish of marinated seafood (trout pictured here) in chili peppers and limes usually served with sweet potatoes, onions and toasted corn.

Shrimp, shellfish and trout were featured in this version of cebiche.

There are thousands of varieties of potato with their own specific usages.

Color-drenched sauces and condiments accompanied most every dish we sampled. Pictured here they are sold by the kilo at a local market.

Papas Rellenas: Fried Mashed Potatoes filled with Beef served with Huancaina Sauce and Sarsa Criolla.

Ubiquitous in Peruvian cuisine are mashed potatoes that are served compressed and chilled, filled with a variety of vegetables--perhaps fish--and served with a sauce of some sort.

Another version, fashionably molded in a timbale.

Negotiating a vegetarian meal could be a complex operation. Bits of meat seem to hide everywhere.

Anticuchos are brochettes made from beef hearts marinated in a various Peruvian spices and grilled. They are sold by street vendors, but we enjoyed them (not skewered) alongside livers and gizzards at Panchita, a popular creole restaurant in the Miraflores section of Lima.

We're all familiar with the plethora of health properties in quinoa, the ancient Inca grain. You'll find a wide variety of quinoa soups throughout Peru.

Quinoa, quinoa! Cleverly planted in little cakes, and even based in ice cream.

Another Peruvian favorite--guinea pig! Everyone has an opinion on this, errr, rodent and I found them delicious. With their tiny bones and rich flavor, they were reminiscent of game birds.

Trout, in all of its many guises, is Andean cookings primary freshwater fish and you will see it on every menu in every restaurant in Peru. Perhaps I exaggerate, but as much as I love trout, I'm done with this fish for a while.

Surprise! The main course is...trout!

This tea (note the coca leaves) helped with the soaring altitudes. This was my recovery drink after "hiking"--more like staggering--around a 16,000 foot landscape.

Ah...the coca leaf. This staple, though not delicious, has a plethora of medicinal properties. What we chewed (with quinoa ashes), ate in candy and drank in tea would land us a prison sentence in the USA.

Ah yes. When in Peru, you'll likely dine on alpaca. Judging from the "chew", it was certainly free-range and grass fed . I ate alpaca a couple of times--each experience quite different. It is a lean, flavorful meat that I especially enjoyed braised.

The beautiful black Inca corn (Kulli).

Shary, my fearless food-loving travel companion, sipping Chicha Morada--the infamous Peruvian purple corn drink. South Americans have all sorts of variations of corn-based drinks, and this Peruvian specialty is made by boiling purple corn with pineapple rind, apple, cinnamon, cloves and water, then seasoning it with sugar and lime juice.

Rumor has it there are as many festivals in Peru as there are species of potato (over 3,000 each year). The next few photos were snapped along a dirt road in a small village at one 3-day event. We had the opportunity to be a part of two festivals on our travels.

Visiting the colorful "Al Marcado" market in Lima. I haven't a clue as to what species of fish this is. It looks like something--a Parrotfish?--found in Caribbean waters, but it is from Peru. The Amazon is home to some of the largest fresh water fish on Earth.

We are deciding on lunch now; the charming proprietor is showing us the menu.

We pointed to the fish behind the counter we wished to try and within minutes it was ready to eat. Pictured here--fried with seaweed.

Another one of her market creations--Arroz Con Marischos--a fresh fish and rice dish seasoned with tomato, garlic, cumin peppers, turmeric, onions and paprika--typical ingredients enjoyed in traditional Peruvian recipes.

Farm to Table; an Amazon woman brings fruit from her farm to the local Lima market.

Luscious fruit from the Amazon jungle. Chirimoya --also known as Custard Apples-- are native to the Andean highlands of Peru. The inside is white, juicy and fleshy with a creamy custard like texture studded with seeds that look like beans. Chirimoya are sweet and taste like a combination of banana, pineapple, peach and strawberry.

The pulp of the Granadilla is runny and sweet; the caviar of fruits with edible crunchy seeds.

All of these Amazonian plant-based powders exhibit properties sure to cure what ails you.

We were guided through this incredibly diverse market in Lima by "Lima Te Llena", a chef-run individualized market tour. I highly recommend this tour to food lovers who wish to dig deeper into the culture of authentic Peruvian food.

We weren't the only ones feasting in Peru. Shary and I compare bites collected while hiking Machu Picchu.