A Broken Mask & Foraging for Food

A wonderful day on Monday, and then an attempt to close the country doesn't keep me from a couple of good meals.

Scallops, anyone?

Monday, April 4, 2022

So, Peru is super Covid-cautious, and my mask broke on the way to breakfast. Undaunted, I called an audible and stopped at a market to get some take-out food. My Coffee would have to wait.

I bought a Tamale, some Bread, and a Pastel de Acelga, and took them to the side of this old, cobblestone road that leads to the ocean, and dined al fresco.

A Pastel de Acelga is - as far as I can tell - some sort of Peruvian Spinach Pie, but they use a different leafy, green vegetable than Spinach. I didn't get a good photo here, but I had one later in the week, so you'll see it then. As you can see with the Tamale, I made Tamale Sandwiches, and poured on a little Tari Sauce (it's slightly spicy, slightly creamy, and all delicious).

Later, after upgrading my mask collection, I grabbed a cab and headed of to El Marati in Chorrillos. This place is pretty far off the path where most tourists would visit (I stumbled upon them years ago during a random wander of the city), but it is always crowded, and the food is wonderful. It was the next-to-last restaurant I was in before the President closed the country for the pandemic.

I stuck to the basics: Leche de Tigre, Ceviche, Causa and Grilled Octopus. 

 

You get a tentacle, and YOU get a tentacle!

Leche de Tigre is, basically, Ceviche Juice with a couple of pieces of Fish floating around - better than it sounds. Ceviche is raw Fish marinated in Lime Juice, and in this case, with some Red Pepper thrown into the Marinade for good measure, and the Causa is the Mashed Yellow Potatoes sandwiched around (this time) what we would call Crab Salad. Ad the Grilled Octopus is, well, Grilled Octopus, garnished with Vegetables and Fried Mashed Potato Balls.

As if all that wasn't enough, I was re-encuentro-ing with Leon for Dinner. I pre-reserve tables at Panchita before my trip, and figure out who is going to join me later. And if I'm alone, no sweat - I could eat at Panchita every night of my life without complaints.

Except one - I pack away way too much when I go there. Tonight was no exception.

Leon lives there, so he can have this stuff anytime. He just ordered the one dish, and shared one side and Dessert with me. I, on the other hand, had two Main Dishes, three-quarters of a side, and half of a Dessert.

From the top, there's Pastel de Choclo, Leon and his Rocoto Relleno, me and my Anticuchos de Corazon, Arroz con Chanchito, and for Dessert, Picarones.

The Pastel de Choclo is Ground Corn in a casserole on top of some Ground Beef and Spices. It's pretty much a Peruvian staple, but Panchita's version is absolutely fabulous. Even Bertha's mother, who thought she had the hook-up for the best Pastel, was won over on her first taste.

The Rocoto Relleno, or Stuffed Pepper, is the same one I had a week before, and according to Leon, equally delicious. The Anticuchos are - in English - Beef Hearts on A Stick. They are marinated in Anticucho Sauce (whatever that is), and grilled over an open fire. And the Arroz con Chancito is Rice with Pork. This was a first-time item for me, but won't be the last. 

And no, you're not going to get me to shut up about Picarones. I sing songs about them. They are doughnuts made from a batter that comes from Squash and Sweet Potatoes. You can read about them HERE in Wikipedia.

I don't think I am doing a great job 'selling' these dishes, but trust me, get your butt down to Lima, and you'll understand why I order too much at these places.

Speaking of that, I was barely able to make it back to my apartment and get into bed with my clothes on, lights on, phone not charging, and pass out in a food coma. So deep, I didn't hear my phone blowing up the rest of the night.

Tuesday April 5, 2022

It seems that many Peruvians are not happy with the way things are going in their country, politically at least (the soccer team's doing OK). There were some big protests planned for Tuesday, so Monday night, while Leon was watching me ingest half the restaurant, the president decreed that everything was going to be closed on Tuesday, and that everyone should stay home.

When I finally woke up at 10 am, all my local amigos had texted me to update me on the situation. I looked out the window; it was true. Nobody was outside. I figured that this was perfect: I needed a rest day, and I would be full for a week after last night's adventures.

Around 3 pm, the strangest thing happened... I got hungry. Everything was 'closed' - at least officially - but I went out to investigate. A few hole in the wall grocery stores were open, so I knew that I wouldn't starve. But then I realized that hotels need to feed their guests. So after walking a big lap around my area (no protests, just people walking their dogs), I popped into a hotel about 100 feet from my building. "Sure," they said. "Have a seat. Service will be slow, but we will get to you."

Beggars can't be choosers, so I sat. And waited. And waited some more. It turned out the waiter was also the chef, bus boy, and room service guy. Finally, he took my order. I told him to do what he could, but I had a book, so he could take his time. First up: Scallops Parmesan.

So, yeah. Scallops, Cheese, a little Butter, and maybe a dash of wine. Just add fire. Scallops are great; so is cheese. And the sum is greater than the parts. Peruvian chefs/waiters/bus boys/room service guys do a great job with Scallops. Every time.

After a bit, he cleared my table and got a chance to whip up my next dish. It's a Peruvian classic: Lomo Saltado.

This is stir-fried Beef, Tomatoes and Onions, served with Rice and with French Fries. It was good, and considering that the Chef/Waiter/etc was busier than a one-armed paperhanger, it was excellent.

That should have been enough for me for the day, but around 5 or 6 pm, the President announced that you could go out again. Fernando called me to ask about Dinner. We didn't know what, exactly would be open, but we were sure that we would find something.

After driving around some, we discovered one universal truth: when all else fails, Chinese Restaurants are open. We found ourselves, totally at random, at La Pagoda.

It was pretty much your generic Chinese Restaurant. We each had Soup, I had Duck with Vegetables in Garlic Sauce, some Shue Meis, we shared a plate of Fried Rice, and Fernando had... I don't remember.

Everything was OK. But faced with the original proposition of not having anything and having to forage for food, it was a fine dinner. And I got to see Fernando.

He dropped me off after that, and I went back to sleep to prepare for some more vacation.