The Food of Peru

 When we first arrived in Peru, we went to a buffet restaurant with fruit, vegetables, rice, meat, and dessert. It was then that we learned that all the food was organic, hand grown, without pesticides. After that, we went to a Peruvian restaurant called, Churco. They all had different food but had a few things in common. All the food was healthy and delicious. In a typical meal, there was soup, rice, meat, noodles, vegetables, water, and a wonderful dessert. 

During our first meal, there was a festival going on. We watched some of it from the window of the restaurant. People were dancing around a tree and trying to cut it down, trying to get to the gifts handing in the tree. Eventually, it was time for homestays. My homestay mom and Jaylen's homestay mom were sisters, so we ate lunch together. The lunch consisted of cilantro soup, rice, meat, lettuce, perch, sweet potatoes, and native potato-like vegetables. On that day, it was also Michael's birthday, so my homestay family, Michael, and I went to a pizza place for dinner. We ordered a Hawai'ian and a chef's pizza. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before, being crunch, soft, cheesy, fruity, and absolutely delicious!

In my homestay for breakfast, we typically had pan tostado (toasted bread) eggs, meat, and tea. In the lunch my homestay mom packed for me, consisted of rice, avocado, and seasoned, cooked chicken. For dinner, it varied from french fries, beef, and rice to potatoes, rice, and pork. Generally, it was very delicious and tasty.

We also had a ceremony, the Pachamanca, which means "Earth Oven." The food was cooked under layers of heated rock, paper, leaves, under dirt, with a small fire. It tasted very rich and earthy, and all the flavors blended together well. We ate potatoes, green beans, corn, chicken, pork, guinea pig, arroz con leche, and strawberry mousse. Also, we had to leave our homestays on this day (and it was very sad). 

By: Han