Stories

The Washington Post shares an interesting article about Peru's ever growing popularity on the international food scene. Here we share excerpts from their article 'Marinated in the Morning, Grilled at Night: The Charms of Peru's Fusion Cuisine'. Peru's Food Scene Featured in the Washington Post Señora Grimanesa, as she is known, has become a mini-celebrity in Lima. She has made TV appearances; she even has her own Web site. But Acurio is one of the country's most recognizable faces. After we arrived at the anticucho cart, it took only seconds for patrons to begin taking photos with their cellphones and lining up for autographs. Acurio is promoting anticuchos himself at his newest Lima restaurant, Panchita, which opened in February. Just a few miles from Grimanesa's cart, the vibe -- and the prices -- are entirely different. Hunks of meat are on display at the entrance of the vast modern space, accented with vibrant red and dark wood. In addition to beef heart, there are anticuchos of beef, salmon, chicken and octopus that cost between three and six times as much as the ones on the street. That, Acurio says, is the point: "Why, if we can go to hamburger restaurants and fried chicken restaurants, why can't we have a wonderful restaurant where anticuchos are the star? If we can have in the mind of people that there are great anticuchos, maybe they will think, 'Let's go eat them on the street.' We try to help each other." Other street foods have made their way onto restaurant menus. Tamales now are frequently available at Lima restaurants. My favorites, however, were picarones, a kind of doughnut made from a yeasted pumpkin or sweet potato dough. Whether you find them late-night on the corner or at the local cevicheria, the ring-shaped fritters are