LIMA DAY 1: A Full Day Left Me Full

Monday, December 11, 2017

It's not the Holidays without Octopus on A Stick.

OK, now that the Pulpo is out of the way... I landed Sunday night, but just went to the apartment and didn't eat anything.

In the morning, I ran out to the little Sandwich Place, El Jamoncito, in the building across the street. I had two Hot Dog and Egg Sandwiches and a fresh Pineapple Juice. You can see her cutting up the Pineapple before throwing it in the blender.

 

 

 One of the things that I am lucky enough to be involved with here is being part of a Christmas Party out in the sticks for kids that really don't have all that much. Last year, we added Books to the things that the kids receive. Bertha and I do the shopping for them -- me, because it is fun, and Bertha, because she speaks Spanish and has kids and knows what they like. And we both do it because, well, books. She came by the apartment to start our day. But first, Lunch.

We went to El Bodegon in Miraflores.This place looks like an old-school 'Taberna' - a bar where people go to drink, eat, socialize, and while away the day. They are a thing here in Peru. This one is really a high-quality restaurant, disguised as a Taberna, with really excellent food. It's one of the massive collection of places owned by the King of Peruvian food, Gaston Acurio. This one is priced mid-range, but from top to bottom, all his restaurants serve wonderful, top-shelf food.

I deferred to Bertha on the ordering. You can trust her in a restaurant. 🙆👌

We started with the Causa de Cangrejo con Mas Cangrejo que Causa.

Aside from being a thing of beauty, this 'Crab Causa with More Crab than Causa' was delicious. A Causa is mashed Yellow Potatoes, stuffed or topped with a variety of things, but usually what we would call Chicken Salad, Tuna Salad or Crab Salad. Sometimes Shrimp Salad. Think a mushy Mashed Potato Sandwich, and you would be close.

This one did indeed have more Crab than Potato, and it was awesome. Here's another picture:

For our Main Courses, Bertha decided that we would share Carapulcra con Sopa Seca and a dish of Aeropuerto.

 

 

 

Photo credit to Bertha for the overhead shot of both dishes.

Carapulcra is a stew made with dried Potatoes, (usually) Pork, and some kind of Sauce that's really good. The Sopa Seca is Noodles with their own flavoring going on. "Sopa" is Soup, and "Seca" means dry, so I guess the Noodles are Dry Soup. Whatever they want to call it; fine by me.

Aeropuerto is a dish that is basically Fried Rice loaded up with stuff. And in this case, topped with a Fried Egg and what I think was a Pork Cutlet, but it could have been Beef.

The Aeropuerto was just wonderful. Every bite literally exploded with flavor. I have had Aeropuertos before, even in one of Gaston's better restaurants, but this was just great.

Now the Carapulcra... my words to Bertha were, "This Aeropuerto is great, but this is the best Carapulcra with Sopa Seca that I have had since... ever." She agreed with me, and she grew up with this stuff. We have both been to the Carapulcra District (no, I'm not kidding) outside of Lima and had it there. This was just better.

Maybe the Chef was just on top of his game today; maybe it was because it was my first day in town, but this was just over the top good.

Our next stop was the Used Book District. We walked around, and found the woman we haggled with and bought from last year. She was still cleaned out of kid's books, but she brokered a deal with her daughter's store and the lady next to her daughter. We bought 110 books for the party on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They tried to fit all the books into one box (the vertical photo). We wound up with two boxes. Way more manageable. And the receipt - yeah, that's me - Ricardo from Lima-Miami.

After some intensive resting, I headed to Panchita for dinner. Panchita is my favorite restaurant in the world, in case you were wondering.

Carlos, my personal waiter, seated me and told me that I wanted Club Soda with Lime and lots of Ice, the delicious Bread, and wanted to start with Octopus on Stick. (Who needs a stinkin' menu when you have Carlos?)

 

 

 

It's like coming home. Except Loretta couldn't do half the job on the Octopus that they do at Panchita.

For my Main Course, I was torn between getting the Short Ribs (in the 'share' section of the menu, but I have a doorman who lives for my leftovers), or two Appetizers. I consulted with Carlos, and it turned out that they were out of the Short Ribs. So I ordered a Bowl of Sopa Criolla and a Rocoto Relleno.

 

 

The Sopa Criolla doesn't photograph well. It's a broth with Noodles, small cut-up pieces of Beef, an Egg, a piece of Bread, and delicious spices. Hard to describe and photograph, but easy to eat.

The Rocoto Relleno is a Stuffed Hot Pepper. Stuffed with some Beef-based concoction, it sits on top of a bed of Pastel de Papa, which is sliced Potatoes with some Cheese. This is one of my favorite Peruvian dishes, and this is a good example.

Carlos didn't ask *what* Dessert I wanted; only if I had room for Dessert. When I agreed, out came the Queso Helado.

Queso Helado, translated, is 'Frozen Cheese.' There's no Cheese in this Ice Cream that originated in the Arequipa region of Peru. I've been to Arequipa, had the Queso Helado there, and it is better right here in Panchita. So there you go!

That was it for the day. I waddled off to the casino, where I won enough money to pay for Dinner and some of Lunch. I had planned on taking it easy this trip; maybe that starts tomorrow.