Puro Peruano

Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 and the resultant debility of the colonial superpower led to a series of liberation movements throughout South America. In 1824, after centuries of imposition and exploitation, José San Martín and Simón Bólivar led Peru to its long awaited independence. Bólivar’s former residence, now in the Pueblo Libre district of Lima, has been converted into the Museum of Anthropology, Archeology and History which I had the opportunity to visit on Tuesday. To the history aficionado, the comprehensive galleries demonstrate the indigenous life of the Chavín, Mochica, and Huari tribes that existed long before the reign of the Inca; to the cynic, the museum is an elaborate display of pre-Columbian jars. The highlight of the museum is (expectedly) the exhibit on the Inca which reveals the incredible accomplishments of a civilization that lasted less than a century and had no written language and no knowledge of the wheel… Re-invent that!
Most Peruvians would argue that the only thing richer than their cultural heritage is their cuisine. Wednesday’s culinary expedition began with a seafood sampler consisting of tilapia, shrimp, clams, octopus, and yucca root accompanied by a pitcher of chicha morada, a traditional juice made from blue corn and spiced with cinnamon. Following lunch, a walk through the parks lining the coast of Miraflores led us to a viewpoint that looks over Lima, where we enjoyed maracuya sours, an acerbic jungle fruit mixed with Peruvian pisco. The evening was spent in the bohemian barrio of Barranco watching the sunset over a cold Cuzqueña beer adjacent the Puente de Suspiros (The Bridge of Sighs) before retiring for the day. Thursday saw no mercy from the gastronomic indulgence as I was treated to multiple platters of the much revered ceviche, a “raw” fish cooked in lime juice and onion served with slices of glazed sweet potato. It should go without saying that the better part of Friday morning was spent in the gym… only to treat myself to ground beef empanadas in the afternoon.