The Peruvian Food Festival will run from September 7-9 at Hyatt Regency Trinidad. While it will proudly display the South American country’s culinary gems, there is a greater plan at play.
That plan is to aid in regional food security, ambassador David Màlaga said at a tasting for media and the festival partners, Hyatt and Copa Airlines. The tasting was held on September 5 at the Hyatt, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.
The guests were treated to some of Peru’s most known dishes including varieties of its ceviche and its most popular dish, lomo saltado (stir fried beef). Fish, Peruvian roasted corn, Peruvian chilli limo, ginger, shrimp, chicken and crab were some of the ingredients in the four cold starters: ceviche clàsico perunao; ceviche Nikkei; ceviche caliente de camarones al ajì Amarillo; tiradito de salmon, leche de tigre al ajì Amarillo and causa limena, trio de causas.
[caption id="attachment_973848" align="alignnone" width="461"] One of the cold starters at the Peruvian Food Festival tasting on September 5. The festival runs September 7-9 at the Hyatt Regency. The dish is the causa limena, trio de causas which consists of classic "causa" potato patties with salmon, chicken and crab. - Melissa Doughty[/caption]
The four main dishes saw a blend of sautéed beef, vegetables, corn, seafood, mushrooms and followed by a crispy crunchy meringue with lùcuma mousse and chocolate sauce for dessert.
Much like Trinidad and Tobago’s, Peruvian cuisine is a multicultural blend.
The embassy brought Peruvian chef Maria Rosa Vasquez Chavez for the festival.
Chavez trained at the Peru branch of Le Cordon Bleu and holds a masters in restaurant management and innovation from the Basque Culinary Center, Basque Country, Spain.
Chavez’s menu showed the blend of the Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, African and indigenous influence in the country’s cuisine.
Guests were treated to a drink of Pisco – the Peruvian brandy made from its grape that is sometimes colourless or yellowish-to-amber in colour – before the meals.
While this is the embassy’s first food festival in TT, it wants to ensure it is not the last.
Malaga said, “Peruvian cuisine is more than a response to feed our people. It is a social experience. It is the sum of all of our history, 10,000 years of history, cooking and coming together to enjoy our meals.”
[caption id="attachment_973851" align="alignnone" width="461"] One of Peru's most popular dishes: Lomo Saltado. It is made of sauteed beef tenderloin with vegetables, soy sauce, French fries, and rice with corn. - Melissa Doughty[/caption]
The country has become a “success story” with its agricultural exports and believes it can help alleviate the growing problem of global food security.
The country’s profile on the World Food Programme (WFP) website says, “Over the past decade, hunger and poverty have significantly decreased in Peru, thanks to consistent economic growth, investments in infrastructure, education and hea
