A taste of Peru – ten traditional dishes

Ceviche made from the most exquisite fish, refreshing bitter cocktails or the crispest of desserts, picarones, topped with spices. This is just some of the amazing food served in Peru.

You might not visit Peru for its food as such, but the Peruvian food culture is excellent nevertheless – and wonderful and unusual culinary experiences await you when you visit the country.

Read on here, where you will be presented with ten different Peruvian dishes and specialities, and get yet another reason to visit the amazing Latin American country.

1. Lomo Saltado

Stir-fried beef or alpaca meat, chilli, tomatoes, onions, soy sauce and fries. These are the ingredients of lomo saltado, which in English means sautéed meat. The dish is often served with white rice as a side.

The dish was brought to the country by the Chinese who came to Peru looking for work many years ago, and it is a fusion of Chinese cooking methods and Peruvian ingredients.

Lomo Saltado is an incredibly popular dish found all over the country and in any self-respecting Peruvian restaurant around the world.

Try the dish in: Lomo Saltado is a dish you can find in almost every corner of Peru. The way it is presented can vary immensely, but the taste is always genuine Peruvian.

2. Aji de Gallina

Aji de Gallina is a typical, creamy, not too spicy, slightly wintry Peruvian dish.

A thick, yellowy sauce with shredded chicken served, for example, with rice, potatoes, olives and a boiled egg.

The sauce is, for example, made from condensed milk or whole milk, cheese, yellow chilli – hence the colour – walnuts, garlic and onions. However, it doesn’t always taste the same as people often put their own unique mark on the dish.

It tends to be served in chillier times of the year times south of the equator.

Try the dish in: The dish can be eaten all over Peru, but try for example, the creamy dish in the capital in the winter.

3. Anticuchos

If you’re a fan of steak with béarnaise sauce, you can’t go far wrong if you choose anticuchos.

The dish consists of mouth-watering pieces of grilled beef or alpaca meat and potatoes or onion with a squeeze of lime. Offal, especially cow’s hearts, is also used in place of the more standard beef.

The dish is incredibly popular as a quick meal.

Try the dish in: Buy the dish all over the country – e.g. as street food. And although you might baulk at the idea, try it with offal such as cow’s heart – it doesn’t get more traditional than that!

4. Cuy (Peruvian guinea pig)

The guinea pig is not exactly an animal we tend to eat in UK! However, it is one of the most popular sources of meat in Peru – and another national dish.

The guinea pig is traditionally stuffed with spices and cooked over an open fire. As a side dish, the guinea pig is served with potatoes and a chilli dip and eaten in the same way as barbecue chicken, i.e. with your fingers!

The meat is often cooked whole and you can still see that it is a guinea pig when it is served.

Try the dish in: Guinea pig can be eaten throughout Peru, but it is served in different ways. Some restaurants also serve the meat deep-fried or braised – so see what’s on offer in the southern part of the country from Cusco to Lima.

5. Ceviche

Fresh fish and shellfish marinated in lemon. That’s what ceviche is. An extremely exquisite dish, which, one might say, is the national dish of Peru. The fish in the ceviche is not raw, but marinated in lemon juice. The name of the dish, which comes from the word “quechua”, means fresh fish.

Fish is abundant on the west coast of Peru, which neighbours the Pacific Ocean.

Besides its main ingredients, the citrus-marinated fish and shellfish dish consists of many different flavours and comes in many different versions. Among other things, the dish can be seasoned with red onion, chilli and salt.

Try the dish in: Depending on where you are in the country, there are different flavour variations. Try ceviche in coastal areas such as Lima and order perch with Leche de Tigre, which is an intense citrus marinade. In the Andes, you can taste trout with red onions and sweet potatoes.

6. Picarones

Picarones are Peru’s answer to the doughnut.

The dough, which is made of sweet potato flour, is shaped into small rings, exactly like doughnuts. The rings are then fried until deliciously crisp and golden, and topped with honey or syrup and a blend of spices, consisting of orange and cinnamon, etc.

These little bites of heaven are a pleasure to munch on when you go for an evening stroll in the cosy streets Cusco or Lima. But the little picarones are also served at restaurants and are perfect for rounding off a day of Peruvian cuisine.

Try the dessert in: Go for a walk in a market or you might be really lucky and come across a local mother opening her door in the evenings to sell the little picarones in Cusco or Lima, for example. Enjoy the delicious deep-fried mouthfuls as an evening snack while the kids play in the streets.

7. Lúcuma

Lúcuma is a fruit that is also known as eggfruit due to its shape.

The fruit has a stone resembling an avocado stone in the middle, and its flesh is yellow like a mango. The lúcum fruit grows in the mountainous areas of Peru.

The exotic fruit is used in many desserts, e.g. in cakes served with chocolate or often with ice cream. And lúcums are actually very popular with the Peruvians.

Although the fruit is reminiscent of a mango in its shape and colour, the taste is quite different – and actually quite difficult to describe. But the flavour has a sweetness to it, reminiscent of a kind of caramel. The consistency is also somewhat unusual – creamy yet firm!

The lúcum is perhaps an acquired taste, but do give try the exotic fruit a try when you’re in the country.

Try the dessert in: You will come across this fruit everywhere from food markets and restaurants to ice cream stands. Try a delicious dessert with the fruit or enjoy the sight of it at the markets.

8. Coca tea

Many Peruvians chew on the coca leaves as a remedy for altitude sickness. But the leaves can also be used to make tea.

Coca tea may have a stimulant effect, so go easy if you want to try the tea!

The taste is a mix of spinach, green tea and mint.

Try the drink in: The tea is available from an altitude of around 2,100 metres at hotels and restaurants. If you want to try it, the Cusco and Machu Picchu areas are the place.

9. Pisco sour

If you fancy a refreshing drink, try a pisco sour.

Pisco sour is made of brandy, egg whites, lemon juice, syrup and Angostura Bitters, a bitters made from plant extracts.

The brandy, which is made from eight different grapes in the Ica region of Peru, comes in a variety of flavours due to the different ages of the brandy and production techniques.

The drink is slightly lime-coloured and topped with egg white foam – and tastes absurdly good!

Try the drink in: The drink is a something of a national drink and you can get it at any self-respecting Peruvian bar.

10. Chicha morada

This Peruvian drink has a lovely purple colour and contains a little alcohol.

It is made from purple corn, a crop that has been of great importance to Peru for many, many years.

The taste is a combination of diverse flavours such as cloves, lemon, cinnamon and sugar.

Try the drink in: If you are out and about and see red flowers on the gable of a house, you can almost certainly buy chicha morada there. It’s a Peruvian experience of grand proportions!

Would you like to visit Peru?

Peruvian cuisine is an incredible amalgamation of flavours, with something for everyone.

If you want to experience the culinary side of Peru and all the other amazing experiences the country has to offer, then check out all our Peru tours.

TourCompass – From tourist to traveller