The Peruvians seem to like things being served up a little differently. For example, one can always be confident your cold or luke warm supper will be accompanied by a warm beer. Juan Carlos (our jungle doctor friend), was always raving about the wide variety and consistent quality of the internationally renowned delicious Peruvian cuisine. 

Sampling different varieties of food has always been an interest of ours and we have made a point in scanning the street side comedors and market stands of each South American country, tasting the local "delicacies" on the way, and generally only drawing the line at various form of animal innards, and the Peruvian Cuy. This a large guinea pig, skinned and grilled on a rotisserie and presented on a plate in front of you with its belly exposed, claws in the air and whites of its teeth showing, accompanied by the normal staples. We never liked the idea of eating a whole skinned rodent. Peru's true speciality is ceviche, a coastal dish of fish marinated and prepared in a spicy lemon sauce, a delicate refreshing taste and excellent with a cold beer, the latter always seemed easily attainable at a seaside Cevicheria.

As far as the rest of the food is concerned, you are generally faced with a small chewy piece of red meat or large piece of greasy chicken, accompanied by various combinations of the usual 4 staples of Luke warm platano (cooking banana), rice, potatoes or yuka. This is usually preceded by an oily film on top of a half warm soup complete with served chickens claws and heads if you aren't careful, and finished up by a sickening sweet artificial jelly or opaque mixture. As an accompaniment, don't forget that more often than not luke warm beer. Also searching the various market stalls for fresh vegetables, one doesn´t encounter much more variety than potatoes, a few  green beans, tomatoes, onions and the odd paprika. Even the market stalls are dirty and forgettably smelly, unlike those in Bolivia and Ecuador which served up cheap and delicious food in relatively clean surroundings.  No, we tend to disagree with old Juan, Peruvian cuisine is an unimaginative disappointment. 

Also interesting in Peru, and most of the continent, are various luminescent soft drinks that resemble a liquid one may find in the depths of a chemical plant. These can be bought in abundance all over the continent, the different brands being unified in Peru by the huge proud stamp "100% Peruvian" on the label. Most famous of these is Inca Cola, a sweet luminous yellow mixture that glows during the day, as well as night. This is one soft drink truly originally Peruvian, but unfortunately is now in the hands of The Coca Cola Company. These "luminosities" compete with the great fresh juices available for a "nickle and a dime". Various mixes of all sorts of fruits are blended pure, or mixed with water or milk, at the juice stands located all around the commercial centres. We steered clear of the most popular blend called "especial" a proud mixture of 100% Peruvian malt beer (warm), milk and a raw egg, how odd!  In fact, apart from the quality of the fruit,the pretty good meat and pastas of Argentina, and some excellent very regional cuisine specialities; one would be well advised not to book oneself on a "gourmet tour" of Latino America. And one last word of advise, when visiting Brazil, don´t try the pizza, it looks anaemic and tastes horrible.......