Happy January everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you’re looking forward to a great 2017.
My family back in the UK have had some super cold, frosty days recently, while in contrast we’re experiencing the hottest January for 19 years I believe!! It’s crazy hot and humid and the only thing that makes it bearable is ice cream. A lot of ice cream!
Ica is the main area in Peru for distilling pisco, the national spirit.
Pisco is made in a similar way to some types of brandy, but the final product is clear instead of dark. The grape juice is first fermented until it becomes a young wine. This means pisco is actually made from wine, not from the leftovers of wine production. After the fermentation has taken place, it is distilled and then rested in an odourless, non-reactive container (no wood) for a minimum of three months until it can be bottled. Pisco production is very strictly regulated and each producer must follow these same rules.
Pisco is absolutely delicious, especially when you buy it from a great producer.
This is not technically a specifically Peruvian dessert, however you won’t find a pasteleria here in Lima without their version of chocolate cake. Also, you might have heard that cacao here is a big deal so, you know, it’s only fair to include the cake in my list of Peruvian desserts. Oh, and I love chocolate cake.
Are you, like me, one of those people that always has hope at any parties or weddings that you attend that the cake is going to be a chocolate one? Yeah, thought so.
Chocolate cake here in Peru comes in many forms. From a two or three layer dense and sticky cake to a one layer chocolate packed wonder. From a manjar blanco-y (that is a word btw), fudgy icing, to a simple chocolate ganache. And just about everything in between. Oh yes, everything. On the bad side, I’ve eaten chocolate cake that just tasted of cake….no chocolate, just cake. On the positive, some bakeries like to twist it up a notch adding truffles, liqueurs, and other fancy items, which do not often disappoint.
However, I have decided that for my recommendations I want to focus on the old favourite of chocolate cake + icing. Now in my search for said perfect cake, I have found that there were certain criteria.
I have been amazingly lucky to visit Ica twice this year.
It was an area I had been wanting to visit for a while now and this year was finally the time. I went in April when my brother came to stay and more recently for my birthday at the end of August.
This first post is actually all about the latter stay and the beautiful resort we stayed in to celebrate my 30th.
So, without further ado….
Mistura has finished for another year and I want to share some of my favourite parts with you and also a little bit of some of my not-so-favourite, to give you a view of this year’s offerings!
We’ll start with a little overview….. Continue reading
We started the day again with breakfast on the balcony looking out over the beautiful square.
After having our fill of cheese, bread, cereals and fruit, we set off for the market.
After a final visit to the alpacas at the Colca Lodge we packed up our belongings, headed for the bus and began our journey back to Arequipa.
There is an amazing sight to behold in the Colca Valley.
Aside from the incredible landscapes, there is something else to steal your gaze.
Arequipa is a city in the south of Peru, and it should definitely be included in your itinerary when you come to visit the country. It is just as deserving as a trip to Cusco or to the northern beaches.
It used to be the capital of Peru for a time during the 1800s once Peru had declared independence from Spain, and the historic centre is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The beautiful white stone used to construct many of the buildings here is just absolutely stunning, but we only caught a brief glimpse on our arrival as the sun was setting. However, we were greeted by this view as we checked into our hotel for the night.
An amazing sight and such a perfect welcome!
When we travel to the North of Peru by car we always make a pitstop just outside of Trujillo at a little beach town called Huanchaco.
June marked 2 years since I started my blog. Admittedly I haven’t been writing for a solid 2 years, however, I have so enjoyed sharing my experiences of Lima with you all! Hopefully it has encouraged people to come and visit, and that you have had, or will have, a great experience here, whether it’s for one night or 2 weeks.
This blog has never been about reviewing everywhere to determine if it’s good or bad, but in fact finding the hidden, or not so hidden, gems that make Lima great. From an amazing ice cream store, to some fabulous ancient ruins, Lima really does have a variety of things to offer.
In the spirit of this, my June edition of Bookmarked is going to be a bit of a highlights tour of my time here in Lima. My favourite parts.
At the end I will also share a snapshot of greatness from the rest of Peru, but with my limited visits there are only a few places that I feel I’m qualified to judge! However, with some more trips under my belt in this coming year, I hope to shed some more light on the rest of this beautiful country.
So without further ado, here is my list, my top 40….
Suspiro de Limeña (or Limeño, or without the ‘de’, or with ‘a la’ instead of ‘de’, etc …..) literally translates as ‘sigh of a Limeña’, (Limeña meaning a woman from Lima). I’m not sure where the name comes from but I think it’s quite beautiful and original!
The dessert is made up of two parts. The top is a soft meringue (think Italian meringue) flavoured delicately with port, and the bottom is a base of manjar blanco (a caramel made from milk and sugar) mixed with egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla.
It is a very sweet dessert. No joke.
I actually really, really love the soft, fluffy meringue that sits on the top. It is definitely my favourite part and I probably could just eat a bowl of that. Isn’t it amazing what egg whites become when they are whisked, with a little sugar, to within an inch of their lives!
The dessert in general is scrumptious, but I am super fussy with the particular ones that I will eat. Although, essentially, this dessert is made from milk, I do not much like the taste of it, and therefore do not like tasting milk in my desserts. In addition to this, a shortcut to make manjar blanco is to boil condensed milk until it becomes manjar, but the taste of condensed milk is a million times worse than regular milk. For me, a good manjar blanco shouldn’t taste like condensed milk, and therefore neither should any dessert with it in. Therefore, I am always super happy when I find a suspiro that fits the bill!
Here is a list of some of the best in the city that I have tasted so far, but I’m sure there are many more yet to be tested!
Where would I recommend in Lima to eat Suspiro de Limeña?
The Little Edition 