Fatty but happy

I doubt this will come as a shock to many of you but a huge part of any travel experience for me is the food! Nowhere has this been more true than in Peru. I have to admit that, after the culinary delights of Asia, I wasn't expecting much excitement from South American cuisine - just a lot of rice and beans. Ofcourse there have been plenty of meals accompanied by those 2 staples (and some form of potato too) but whilst hopping around Peru, on my hop-on hop-off bus, I've realised that this country, in particular, has a lot more to offer the palette than the infamous Guinea-pig.

As soon as I crossed the border into Peru I went for the first of many evening meals out, in Puno, and had a delicious slice of Alpaca with apple sauce and wine gravy - almost a roast dinner! My second taste of the tender, lean meat came in the form of Alpaca steak 2 days later, in Cusco - cooked to perfection (medium-rare) and accompanied by mushroom sauce and interestingly seasoned broccoli. Other traditional Peruvian dishes I sampled once or twice include Aji de Gallina (chicken in a yellow pepper sauce), Lomo Saltado (like beef stir fry served with chips and rice because why not?) and Ceviche (raw fish and seafood marinated in lemon juice and onion served with giant corn and a sweet potato - it's delicious, honestly) but only on the coast to eliminate freshness concerns.

On the rare occasions when I felt I could let the inner-gringo out and go for something totally un-Peruvian, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the international food such as a fantastic vegetarian Indian sharing meal and a classic pesto pasta which (unlike elsewhere) wasn't fluorescent green slop. The service at this particular restaurant, however, left a lot to be desired - the first waitress getting our order very wrong due to not understanding her own specials board, the second one trying to take my plate whilst I was still eating (you can imagine my reaction), bringing us extra drinks, taking them away and still charging for them. Thankfully this was an exception to the rule.

In between all these meals I did manage to squeeze in some non-food related activities such as white-water rafting, dune-buggying and a speed boat trip to the bird metropolis of the Ballestas islands - all of which had their own element of stomach-churning! For a less adrenaline-fuelled activity Peru provided a plethora of free/tip-based walking tours in major cities such as Cusco, Arequipa and Lima. After a little bit of history and some photo opportunities, inevitably the tour always turned to food - Peruvians' favourite subject. We would visit local markets to admire the exotic fruit, juice stalls (there were always atleast 10 ladies waving madly from behind a blender) and sample the local delicacies such as the 'queso helado' - literally cheese ice cream but actually more like cinnamon and coconut flavour. On the walking tour in Lima we even got a full 3-course meal at a local restaurant for the grand total of 12soles (£3), by far the cheapest meal in Peru and possibly all of South America. Another common theme of all these walking tours was the promise of a free pisco sours. Only one out of the three actually followed through with this and also gave us chicha - a traditional fermented corn drink that tasted like gone-off jam. I much preferred the zesty pisco sours made with tequila-like pisco, lime, sugar, egg white and cinnamon.

As I ventured up the coast towards Lima I was treated to a free pisco vineyard tour, near the town that gives it its name. This tour, unlike the previous day's Nazca lines viewing, was not a disappointment thanks to the most enthusiastic guide you could ever imagine. His caricature presentation as he showed us the vineyard and cheeky  inuendo whilst sampling wines such as 'perfecto amor' were a delight. His explanation of Peruvians love of sweet wine, sweet drinks and all things sugar was music to my ears (and tastebuds) and his 'fatty but happy' description of his countrymen the inspiration for this blog's title. My sweet tooth had certainly enjoyed all the desserts on offer (naughtily just having a pecan tart and ice cream for dinner one night) and even the Inca cola which people had warned me tourists never like. Despite its urinary appearance I thought it rather delicious though not quite as good as lucozade which is yet to make it to South American shelves. There were all manner of other 'inca' snacks available such as inca corn (giant roasted corn) and inca chips (banana chips) although I'm not sure if any were actually consumed by the Incas. I had a fair few 'Machu Picchu' pizzas and sandwiches on tourist menus too.

Peru is certainly one very proud country, both of its cultural heritage and gastronomy - so who cares if the inhabitants are a little bit chubby!