Along with travel, our family has a love for trying local dishes and drinks to better understand the culture. Peru ended up having some of the best food we have had anywhere in the world. Below are some of our favorite foods, snacks, and drinks from Peru in no particular order.

1. Lomo Saltado- Cooper’s favorite dish. This meal was one of our staples. It had marinated beef, rice, onions, tomatoes and french fries.

2. Empenadas- Mason said his chicken empenada was the best thing he had ever eaten. High praise from a 5 year old. We tried all kinds of empenadas while we were here. They were stuffed with ingredients like chicken, beef, hamburger, ham & cheese and even Chinese food.

3. Chifa- This type of food is extremely popular in Peru. It is a fusion between Chinese and Peruvian food. We had our fair share of Chifa dishes including one called “aeropuerto”.

4. Chicha Morada- This is another drink that the whole country loves. It consists of purple corn, water, sugar, cinnamon, and usually apple or pineapple juice. The corn is boiled with the rest of the ingredients until it dissolves and the the pot is strained out. We loved it and had it many times. A recipe can be found here.

5. Pisco Sour- Peru’s national drink. It consists of pisco alcohol, sugar, lime and egg white. We were big fans! The recipe can be found here.

6. Ceviche- We tried Ceviche de Trucha which was trout cooked by the acid from lime juice with mangos, avocados, and onions. This was one of our favorite dishes in Lima.

7. Alpaca- When we were in Cusco we were told we had to try Alpaca by the couple sitting next to us. We obliged and were glad we did. The meat was really tender and tasted a lot like beef.

8. Inca Kola- This is popular drink that many say tastes like bubble gum. Inca Cola is to Peruvians what Coca-Kola is to Americans. It is available everywhere.

9. Lucuma Ice Cream- We watched an episode of delicious destination with Andrew Zimmern in Peru before we left. In the episode, he visits an ice cream store called Amorelado to try Peru’s favor ice cream flavor. Turns out Amorelado was only a few blocks from where we were staying. Being foodies we were excited to check it out. Unfortunately, Amorelado did not have Lucuma ice cream and couldn’t tell is when they would have it in the future. Luckily almost every other ice cream shop did have it. It was really good but hard to explain how it tasted. It has been described as an avocado-like fruit that tastes like a cross between caramel and maple syrup.

10. Cusquena beer- The national beer of Peru. It was tasty and it is often called “the gold of the Incas.”

11. Juicy Lucy’s- This may not be a Peruvian staple but we sure were glad Juicy Lucy La Mar was in the neighborhood!

12. Picarones- This is a Peruvian desert that is fried like a doughnut but not as light. It consists of wheat flour mixed with pumpkin or sweet potatoes and they are dipped in honey.

13. Inca Corn nuts- Roasted giant Incan corn kernels. They were a nice crunchy treat. Several restaurants served them as free appetizers.

14. Mani Salado- These are salted peanuts but they were more crunchy than normal. Unfortunately, Tom cracked a tooth and ended up at the dentist from them.