Peruvian cuisine is from a country with culture and history major. Throughout
its history, has received various influences: Inca food assimilated
into the Hispanic brought by the conquistadors, who joined the African
element that came through the slaves, gave rise to a rich Creole
cuisine. Later, after emancipation, came the French and Italian contribution. In
the second half of the nineteenth century, with the arrival of Chinese
immigrants, mostly Cantonese, imported to work in the fields and in the
guano islands, Chinese cuisine is incorporated as an exotic and
conquered the Peruvian palate. And
early in the twentieth century with the opening to Japanese immigration
and introducing a new element to merge with our cuisine. This has given rise to a rich mestizo is not commonly found in other cultures. If
to this we add the contribution of native foods, such as potatoes,
corn, yams, cassava, custard apple, pepper, pisco, elderflower, tuna,
among others, find the motivation for creativity that has resulted in highly original recipes.
Gloria
Hinostroza researcher, notes that Hispanic cuisine has grown products
from eight thousand years before Christ, and not about products grew
alone, but they were domesticated. It
also adds that Peruvian food is one of the oldest, is known through the
evidence left by the various ethnic groups and cultures that developed
in the Peruvian territory, which spans millennia and, as Caral,
recognized as one of the world''s oldest cities. One of its features is that it was based on magic-religious character that gives a deep symbolic and cultural content.
Another
feature of the pre-Hispanic cuisine is the way to preserve food: drying
of meat, such as beef jerky and other camelids, the dried potatoes and
potato flour (dehydrated potatoes). There
are dishes that are thousands of years, as the suck, that were made in
mates (big pumpkins) with liquid, vegetables and meat, which was cooked
with preheated stones, which were changing during boiling.
In
1535, with the arrival of the Spanish, new elements are incorporated
into the local cuisine: brought their spices, sugar, and other forms of
cooking: the stew, roasts, cured meats (hams), stews (soups) and others. There is a clash of culinary cultures leading to a merger, which adds the element contributed by African slaves. For
example: the tamales, which come from the tamale, the suck (all soups,
not just Suck Shrimp), now intermixed with pork, cow, sheep or goat, so
the timpu, the Inca parboiled to merge with Spanish cooking, is the Sancochado Lima or Peru. Inca Pachamanca is cooked in the ground. The huatias are also very old, its name comes from Huatiacuri, the first god of food, who taught men to cook.
We give now the characteristics of this cuisine as sui generis: the flavors. Herbs exclusive of Peru, many of Andean origin have given so characteristic taste of Peruvian dishes. The marigold is used in chutneys and suck and ajiacos. The
muña and paico with menthol aromas and chincho marmaquilla and are
ideal to give the flavor of meats and vegetables pachamanca; sacha sacha
cilantro and oregano Amazon. These
are herbs that give flavor to regional cuisines: green suck, suck reds
and yellows and creams ocopas potatoes, marinades for lamb, pork or cuy.
We
have also the variety of chilies, lime, panca green bell pepper,
yellow, sunflower and many more, essential to give a touch of spiciness
to Peruvian food.
We
mentioned earlier native products, the same as European cuisine
enriched with local products and great value tasty food, you could say
that, at the time, saved the world from starvation. These
are: potatoes, corn, lima beans, sweet potatoes, cassava, quinoa,
amaranth, amaranth, pituca, butternut squash, lucuma, cherimoya, pacay,
etc.
The
fusion of cultures in Peru has resulted in dishes that give the image
to our cuisine: the lomo saltado, ceviche, carapulcra, cau cau, aji de
gallina, cause, pickled duck rice, dry chabelo, adobo, tiradito ,
tacu tacu, fried rice, shrimp soup, cuy chactado, pachamanca,
olluquitos with jerky, kebabs, the Italian tripe, tamales, tamales,
chorrillana sea bass, pork rinds, and many others.
In
sweet delights gives us unknown to the world, as picarones, Dona Pepa
nougat, sigh of Lima, purple porridge, rice pudding, rice Zambito,
camotillos, ranfañote, shampoos, chicha morada, and more.