Saturday, May 29, 2010

¡Me gusta camarones!



As I mentioned previously, I was astounded to find out that Lima is a seafood paradise. I put this to the test when I ordered a two course meal that started with chupe de camarones, Peruvian shrimp chowder. It's allegedly the Peruvian national dish, and I can't blame them for loving it. I'm a big fan of any sort of soup that starts from the humble beginnings of boiled shrimp shells and heads.

Like most dishes in Peru, it's not complete with a couple of papas (potatoes, can you tell I'm taking Spanish lessons?!) and those gigantic corn kernels. In the long list of dishes I want to cook when I have a kitchen, this one is on there.



Next up was arroz con mariscos, rice with seafood. This is the sort of dish I look at and think "food poisoning." Then on reflection, I think "I'm hungry." As it turns out, it was both delicious and devoid of harmful bacteria. For 15 soles, or about $5.25, and easily enough to feed two, it was a steal.

2 comments:

  1. The gigantic corn kernels are probably nixtamal (hominy) — c.f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamal.

    Dan and I learned how to make some posole, a sort of soup, really good chiles stuffed with them, while we were living out in AZ.

    Do they serve huitlacoche down there? That stuff is delicious and/or disgusting, depending on your perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  2. red faced ambiguousJune 2, 2010 at 3:27 PM

    Was it tangy,burning hot, greasy,fishy,unctuous, overly salted, limey, lemony, peppery, saffrony? Or mildly subtle? Give us some more vicarious pleasure!

    ReplyDelete