Rich's Meals: Reencuentro

"Reencuentro" is literally, a reunion. The folks here in Peru use it to describe when friends get together after some time has passed. If you ask me, two years of Pandemic certainly qualifies. I have been going to Peru for around 15 years now, and many of my friends have become family to me. So this trip is going to be 'reencuentro-laden.' I didn't realize how much these friends meant to me, up to the minute that I got to hug them after all this time.


Me getting re-acquainted with Rice & Seafood

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Bertha and her family have become great friends over the years. She's a big mover and shaker in our group that throws the Christmas party for the kids, and I adore her children. Her husband, Big Luis, is pretty cool, too. I made them my first stop today. We were going to go out for lunch, but the kids are still doing school at home some days, so we called an audible and ate lunch at her house. I was both hungry and reluctant to show up empty handed, so I brought some empanadas. They heated one up for me while I met their new puppy, Papon.

Papon in the one with the white hair and floppy ears. He's with Luna

We caught up a bunch, the kids opened their late Christmas presents from Uncle Rich, and we sat down for some Chicken Noodle Soup and plates of Chicken Breast, Rice, and Plantains.

Bertha, Big Luis and Luna. Little Luis was too cool for the photo

I washed it all down with some Chicha Morada - Purple Corn Juice. No, it's not Corn Juice dyed purple; it's juice made from Purple Corn. And at Bertha's house, they don't buy Chicha... no no no. They make it themselves, starting with shucking the Purple Corns.

Later that evening, I went to La Botica for a bite. The place is a tiny Restaurant/Bar - nine table and six barstools.

I had a Rocoto Relleno - Stuffed Pepper, and a Ham Sandwich.

Later, after I made up for two years of not contributing to the income of the local casinos, I hit up one of the 24-hour Chicken Noodle Soup stores in town and had... Chicken Noodle Soup

Friday, April 1, 2022

Across the street from one of the apartments I used to rent is a small, independent Coffee Shop. I headed over there for a Latte and something for Breakfast.

The place is still there, still has the same name, but they remodeled to make it less comfortable, and the friendly baristas from two years ago were nowhere to be found. I trudged ahead and had an Omelet and a Latte.

Alex was one of the first people to take me under his wing, as it were, when I first started coming to Peru. He's been a good friend ever since, and we kept in contact throughout the worst of the pandemic. He picked me up for Lunch, asked where I wanted to go, and when one of the choices was El Merlin de Cabo Blanco, he put the car in gear and off we went.

This place is an excellent Cebicheria, with high-end quality at mid-end prices. We're both big fans.

We started with a pitcher of Chicha Morada (I bet that they didn't shuck the corn themselvs), and split an order of Hueveras. They're fish eggs, somehow mushed together and Fried. The waitress brought us a side dish of some Sauce with Onions that went well with it.

For our Main Courses, Alex had some Octopus with Potatoes, and I had Rice with Seafood.

Alex is a little camera shy, but he wasn't shy about finishing off his Octopus. And yes, my Rice and Seafood (Shrimp, Calamari, Scallops and Crabmeat) was indeed in the shape of a fish. And the things around the RiceFish - chunks of Fried Fish.

We passed on dessert - I had a birthday party to attend.

It was Bertha's cumpleanos, so I headed back to her family's place. We hung out and talked for hours (her mother tried to stump me on Lima Restaurants - guess who won!), ate Chicken with Pasta Salad and Rice Arabe, and I basically had a plain old great afternoon and evening.