LIMA DAY 4: I Love Soup. And Scallops. And Other Stuff. But not Tripe.

Tuesday, December 17

Pre-Lunch makes its debut this trip. I didn't have anything for Breakfast, but on the way to Lunch, I stopped at a Cebich Stand on the street.

That's a combination Cebiche of Fish and Conchas Negras. The woman asked me if I wanted the one that cost $2.69 or the larger one that cost $3.37. Duh.

In doing my Food research, I read about El Soperito, a hole-in-the-wall place that supposedly had great Soups. I love Soup, you know, so I shlepped over there.

Before I ordered the Soup, I saw that they had Cebiche de Trucha (Trout) on the menu. I never had Trout Cebiche, so I ordered that first.

Yeah, they took a Trout, cut it up, Cebiche-ed it, put the head on a plate, and brought it to me. Delicious.

Then it was Soup time. It seems that their house specialty is Patasca, so that's what I ordered.

It looked good, so I made the mistake of looking it up on my phone. Corn - great. Simmer for 8 hours - awesome. Hunk of Beef - I love Beef. Tripe - TRIPE???? Tripe comes from the first three chambers of a cow's stomach. You wouldn't want to eat anything from the FOURTH chamber of a cow's stomach, no sir. It kind of ruined the Soup for me.

I'm sure it was delicious -- everybody around me was eating it -- but no. I should have gotten the Chicken Soup.

On the way home, to make me feel better, I bought an Ice Cream Bar.

That helped. And I had Big Plans for Dinner.

My date cancelled on me, so I wound up at Panchita all by myself. Panchita is another of my good friend Gaston Acurio's restaurants. Supposedly, they specialize in Anticuchos (food on a stick), but they have a varied menu with all types of classic Peruvian food. I decided to have three Appetizers for Dinner.

But first, I inhaled the Breads. I was hungry.

My first Appetizer was the Scallops in Lomo Saltado Sauce.

It's an odd combination, but since there are Scallops involved, it works.

Then, I had the Rocoto Relleno. I love Stuffed Peppers.

That would have been enough for a normal human being, so I went ahead and had my Main Course Appetizer, the Sampler.

It had a fancier name than 'Sampler," I'm sure. There was (clockwise, from the top): Two Ribs, a Tamale Verde, Some Choclo con Queso (Giant Mutant Corn Kernels with a Cheese Sauce), a Papa Rellena, Ocopa, A Causa de Pollo, and two Mini Sticks of Anticuchos.

I ate the Ribs, the Tamale, a little of the Corn, half the Papa Rellena, none of the Ocopa, half the Causa, and the Beef Hearts on a stick. A little tour of Peru, all in one plate.

I really wanted dessert (they have Queso Helado there), but I was too full, and wandered off to lose money in the Casinos all night.

Here's my steps.