7-Day Peru
Itinerary

Lomo Saltado

Lima's great stir-fry — strips of beef sirloin, tomato, red onion and ají amarillo flash-cooked in a screaming wok with soy sauce, oyster sauce and vinegar in a Chinese-Peruvian (chifa) fusion tradition begun by Cantonese immigrants in the 19th century; served over white rice and alongside fried potato chips that absorb the sauce; one of the most successful culinary fusions in history.

Causa Limeña

Lima's cold tower of flavour — layers of yellow potato mashed with ají amarillo paste and lime juice, alternating with a filling of tuna or chicken mayonnaise or crab; set in a cylinder mould and unmoulded to reveal a terrine-like presentation; the ají amarillo potato layer has a gentle fruity heat unique to Peru's most important chilli; a Lima restaurant staple for 200 years.

Anticuchos

Lima's greatest street food — cubes of beef heart marinated for hours in a paste of dried panca chilli, cumin, garlic, vinegar and oil, skewered and grilled over charcoal until charred and caramelised; served with boiled potato and a rocoto chilli dipping sauce; sold by anticucheras pushing charcoal carts through Lima's streets from 6 p.m.; a tradition from Viceroyalty-era Lima.

Ají de Gallina

Peru's most beloved cream-based dish — shredded poached chicken in a rich sauce of ají amarillo, walnuts, white bread, Parmesan, garlic and condensed milk that turns the sauce a vivid saffron-yellow; served over white rice with a boiled potato, olives and a hard-boiled egg; the walnut gives a subtle bitterness that makes the dish far more complex than its appearance suggests.

Rocoto Relleno

Arequipa's volcanic pride — the red rocoto pepper (hotter than a jalapeño but used since pre-Inca times) stuffed with a picadillo of minced beef, hard-boiled egg, peanuts and herbs, topped with melted cheese and baked; the pepper's ferocious heat is tempered but not eliminated by the stuffing; served with pastel de papa (layered potato gratin); Arequipa's most defended dish.

Ceviche

Peru's national dish and the Americas' greatest raw seafood preparation — fresh white fish (flounder, sea bass or corvina) cut into cubes and 'cooked' by marinating in fresh lime juice with ají amarillo chilli, red onion, garlic, coriander and ginger-salt; the acidity denatures the proteins in minutes; served with choclo corn and sweet potato; Lima's Pescados Capitales and El Mercado set the contemporary standard.