I’ve blogged about La Mar before, but it’s worthy of another post because it’s just that good. From the moment we sat down, I started eating. We were served these addictive veggie chips of plantain, sweet potato, and eggplant with three different dipping sauces.
Though the chips stand on their own, I like every other diner came to La Mar for the seafood. This year, I decided to mix it up literally and ordered the “ceviche mixto,” which is a ceviche with a mix of fish and other seafood – scallops, shrimp, octopus, calamari, and a few I could not distinguish. I usually order the “ceviche lujoso” which is a ceviche with sea bass.
The ceviche mixto was amazing and the seafood was all so fresh. If you love seafood, this is the dish for you, though I do warn you that it’s not actually cooked! The tomato-based lime sauce that came with this ceviche was so refreshing and cleansed the palate.
For dessert, we split 2 orders of picarones. Seriously the best Peruvian dessert ever!
Thanks to Google, I discovered this great churro place called Manolo in Miraflores (one of the districts in Lima). When my parents and I found Manolo, we were greeted by a glass case full of churros – ones filled with chocolate and manjar blanco (aka dulce de leche) as well as plain ones. I ordered a serving of plain churros with chocolate which consisted of 6 good-sized churros and a cup of dark bitter chocolate. The most shocking thing for me was that I was not thirsty after eating this snack. The chocolate left no aftertaste whatsoever. I definitely recommend hitting up Manolo if you are ever in the area.
I’ve been eating so much good fruit here – mangos, granadillas, and grapes galore. And the fruits are so much bigger here than in the States, probably because they don’t need to be picked before they are ripe.
For breakfast every day, I’m eating these super large grapes with muesli and sauco yogurt (elderberry yogurt). To drink, fresh orange juice and cappuccino. Couldn’t get much better than that.
You really can’t get more Peruvian than lomo saltado, and I absolutely love this dish. It’s pieces of beef cooked with onions and tomatoes and usually served with rice and some sort of potato. (Mine came with fries and rice with corn). Lomo saltado is the Peruvian version of beef bourguignon. My aunt told me that good lomo saltado has a little pisco (a popular Peruvian liquor) in it. I did not taste any pisco in my dish, but it was great nonetheless.
I would like to say a special shout out to all of my calzone-eating college friends, which happens to be the grand majority of my friends. I don’t know if it’s an Amherst thing, but we have two calzone places right in the town of Amherst. That’s quite a lot of calzone per square footage.
I would say the much better equivalent of the calzone in Peru is the empanada. They can be filled with practically anything from beef to chicken to veggies. Though I’m sure it would be pretty difficult to find a bacon ranch empanada here. My favorite kind of empanada is the empanada con carne (which has ground beef in it). So flavorful and delicious!
Today, I had a delicious lunch at my grandma’s house. The salad I ate was a testament to the delicious vegetables you can eat in Peru – avocado, tomato, hearts of palm, and asparagus. The avocados here are WAY better than in the U.S., trust me. They are much smoother and taste riper probably because of the tropical environment here.
Besides the salad, I had one of my favorite dishes – pastel de poro, which is leek pie without a crust. I also gobbled down numerous borek filled with cheese, which I think of as mini versions of empanadas. My grandma also served smoked salmon. You can’t go wrong with that though it’s not very Peruvian!
For dessert, I had one of the ripest and best mangos ever and chocolate nut cake. This cake is so amazing and one of the foods I remember eating every year I come to Peru. The cake is nice and soft but has nuts throughout, which add nice texture, and the frosting is nice velvety fudge. I could eat it all the time.
It’s nice to be back in Peru again. The weather is just perfect – 70s with sun and clouds – and the food is great as always. For my first lunch in Peru, I had to have typical Peruvian food. I decided to order ceviche because I was craving fish. Ceviche is raw pieces of fish (mine was sea bass) that are cooked in lemon for 15 minutes. So while not as raw as sushi, the fish has not touched any form of heat (other than spicy peppers). Traditionally, ceviche comes with corn, red onion, and sweet potatoes.
For dessert I had alfajores. These Peruvian cookies have manjar blanco in them (aka dulce de leche). These cookies have grown on me. I used to not even touch them, but I think my inner Peruvian roots have made me start liking them. They are definitely worth trying if you visit.
I was inspired by an article in the New York Times a month ago which had a recipe for celery root-parsnip latkes. I remember sitting in the cafeteria during breakfast, my mouth watering as I looked at the beautiful photo of the crispy latkes. I concurred that I would have to try and make some when I got home.
I didn’t check back on the recipe, which ended up being ok but risky. I ditched the celery root and while I did not use exact measurements, I used 1 large parsnip, 1 medium-sized russet potato, 1 egg, 1 spoonful of chopped dill, 2 large spoons of flour, a pinch of baking powder, and salt and pepper.
The most annoying thing about making these latkes was grating the parsnip and potato. We don’t have a food processor in my apartment, but I would strongly recommend investing in one if you don’t. They have special blades which grate vegetables in a matter of seconds. Although using a box grater is a great way to relieve stress, it’s tedious and tiresome.
After I finished grating the parsnip and the potato, I put the shreds of vegetables in a kitchen towel and rung out all of the water. You’d be surprised how much liquid comes out! This is a critical step which I cannot stress more. Getting rid of the moisture is the key to having crispy latkes.
I put the dehydrated parsnip and potato in a large bowl, poured in the flour, baking powder, dill, salt and pepper, and mixed in a beaten egg. I heated 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan under medium-high heat. Using a large spoon, I formed latkes roughly 2 inches in diameter and placed them in the hot oil. I cooked them on each side for roughly 2 minutes and put them in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes to make sure they cooked all the way through.
I loved these parsnip latkes. They were mildly sweet and so much better than just plain potato latkes. I served them with some nonfat yogurt, dill, and a little lemon juice, but these crispy treats would be equally delicious with some applesauce.
My recipe yielded 9 latkes.
Winter for me means pomegranates. I cannot get enough of this tart fruit, so tonight, I decided to incorporate it into my main dish. I heated a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan under low heat with two teaspoons of pomegranate seeds (for roughly five minutes). I then brushed the reduced balsamic vinegar (without the seeds) onto the branzino and roasted the fish in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. I sprinkled some raw pomegranate seeds on the fish. I served my fish with some roasted brussels sprouts and lots of lemon. The fish was delicate and slightly sweet from the vinegar and pomegranate.
It’s my second day home, and it sure feels nice. Yesterday, I was very lazy and basically did nothing all day, soaking up my freedom after a rough finals period. But today, I took a different approach and decided to explore the city. I ended up walking over 6 miles despite the blustery weather. I admit I almost got blown over by the wind a few times.
As I was heading home after a full day outside, I passed by the window of Payard, and I just could not resist going inside and taking a closer look at all of the delicious pastries. I caved in and bought a chocolate tart. It was the perfect dessert – not only did it taste amazing but it also was super filling despite the small size. I would call the tart “truffle pie.” The dark chocolate hazelnut center was rich and luscious but not exactly the texture of a mousse (I don’t really like chocolate mouse, so I was happy about this). Really, it was like biting into a nice chocolate truffle. And the crust on the bottom was also very tasty – crunchy but not over-baked.
Two thumbs up, Mr. Payard!
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