So I may have just returned from Japan, but I can’t help myself when it comes to Japanese food.
In Peru, however, you’ll usually find it as part of a fusion style of cuisine called nikkei, and it’s super delicious. Continue reading
THIS MONTH I HAVE BEEN………
Nuevo Mundo Facebook // The Complete Sherlock Holmes on Amazon UK
Dexter // Merlin // Elementary
(from the left going clockwise)1// Mint Choc Chip and Amaretto sundae at Laritza D’. Summer = ice cream!!
2// Salchipapas (sausage & chips) w/ egg at Tanta. I love salchipapas. Great for soaking up those pisco sours!
3// Amazing queso mantecoso (creamy, mild, salty cheese) from the area of Cajamarca in the north-east of Peru. I am afraid I have no location of where to buy this cheese, because it was a gift, but check out the label and have a search for it if you are travelling up that way!
4// The buffet at Mangos at Larcomar in Miraflores. Super tasty food and a great place to eat in the summer, because their location is right on the clifftop overlooking the sea. Amazeballs. (S/.55 for the lunch buffet)
5// Papa rellena (mashed potato shaped around a filling, normally beef, and fried) at Panchita, one of Gaston Acurio’s restaurants specialising in traditional Peruvian food. It was by far the best papa rellena I have ever eaten. Continue reading
And at last we arrive at the dessert namesake of this blog. Pie de Limon, or Lemon Meringue Pie, is a favourite in about a bazillion countries. (Bazillion = a lot x 1000….. approximately…..maybe).
Pie de Limon consists of 3 layers. A base made from crushed biscuits and butter, although pastry is used instead equally as much; a layer of a smooth, sweet, but tangy, lemon curd-y filling; and finally a fluffy meringue topping, usually toasted on top with a blowtorch perhaps or popped briefly in the oven.
I do have to point out briefly that in the UK, and other countries too, they make the pie with lemons (kind of obvious, no?), but here in Peru they make it with limon. Limon is a small citrus fruit with it’s closest comparison being a Key Lime. The taste is slightly different, but to be honest it’s not a giant leap away.
Pie de Limon is super tasty if you make it correctly and that means all 3 layers of equal tastiness. In my pie vision, for example, I hate a crispy meringue or a lemon layer that tastes too much of condensed milk. I’m not sure why condensed milk is often used as an ingredient here in Peru for this part of the pie, I’m pretty sure lemon curd does not include condensed milk. Actually I’m convinced it does not include condensed milk. Please stop this madness.
Also, I would always recommend having a slice cut from a larger pie as opposed to individual tartlets. The filling to base ratio is much better in a slice and you usually get a whole heap more of meringue. I’ve tried a few individual ones here in Lima and none have been as satisfying as a giant slice.
A good Pie de Limon is a happy thing.
What do you get if you cross quinoa with one of my favourite sandwiches?
A really kick ass salad, that’s what.
I have wanted to make a quinoa salad for a while, but there were so many options and I just couldn’t decide what flavour combination would work best. But after a major craving for a bacon and avocado sandwich, I thought ‘hold the phone’, this could be the basis of an awesome salad! I love BLT sandwiches (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato), I love bacon and avocado sandwiches, and I love a good salad. And that is how the BLTA quinoa salad was born. It’s super simple and really tasty, and do not miss out the squeeze of limón at the end, it really ties everything together.
I would just like to apologise for the picture below, it is really quite awful, but I had to take it with my phone (my camera had gone walkabout) and it’s all a bit blurry. Normally it takes OK photos, but clearly it (or I) was having a bad photo day!
Enjoy!
(A quick note: cook the quinoa in advance of when you want to eat, as it needs to cool after it has cooked before you assemble the salad.)
It’s winter here, and the thing I seem to want most is warm comfort food. Pasta bakes, shepherds pie, toasted sandwiches…..you get the gist. Soups are amazing in this weather, because they heat you right up. Crema de Zapallo (squash soup) is one of my favourites, but I also love quinoa soup. Warming, full of flavour, and very, very good for you. It contains soft fluffy quinoa, a rainbow of vegetables, a little bit of chilli, and a good broth. This dish used to either warm us up at night on the Inca Trail or keep us going during the day. It is eaten a lot by Peruvians during the cold nights in the Andes. Continue reading
Sundays are great.
I love that you can spend Sundays sleeping, eating, and watching movies in your PJs and no one cares. Awesome.
I made the greatest breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning and it is super easy.
Picarones are a doughnut shaped fried dessert made primarily from a squash or sweet potato batter, covered in a type of syrup. The batter (see picture 2) is taken and made into round doughnut shapes and fried (see picture 3). They are fished out of the hot oil by a long pole and left hanging, to drip the excess fat back into the pan (see picture 1). They are then put onto a plate and drizzled with chancaca syrup.
They are ridiculously tasty.
The Little Edition 