Road Food

It’s been a while since I posted food pictures so here’s a ramble across a few tables in South America.  Before Layne left for the States we had breakfast in town, an American breakfast  like a grand slam at Denny’s. Layne had French toast and I had pancakes. In Peru. Weird huh? 

There’s a Spanish place in Arequipa owned by a guy actually from Spain who likes it here enough to open his own eatery and serve pretty good food, risotto…

…paella.

And cheese ice cream for dessert. It’s a local thing in this town so called because it has the color and consistency of cheese. 

But not the flavor. It’s actually a light vanilla half ice cream, half sorbet served with cinnamon powder sprinkled on top. Not bad, light and refreshing and not cheesy at all. 

Peru has a reputation for imaginative cuisine and here we have fish, crawfish, Brussels sprouts and puréed potatoes. Not a combination I’d had before but I would again.  

This is a Peruvian specialty too. A stuffed bell pepper filled with beef in a raisin studded sauce and a side of potato gratin layered with sweet Peruvian cheese. 

And a banal chocolate dessert. You’d love it anyway you’d like it. 

This is the village where we broke down in the high plains. We had lunch here and as it’s Peru it was memorable. 

Potato soup. Simple and delicious. 

Alpaca, potatoes, tomatoes and onions and rice. Soup and the plate for $2:20. 

Gratuitous Rusty photo. 

A throwback to Mendoza in Argentina at the end of summer. 

Empanadas. Each country does them slightly different, I like the Chilean version with more pastry but Layne prefers these from Argentina. Colombia and Bolivia fry them which get a bit tiring. We ask for the “Arab” version in Peru as they come out slightly spicy. 

And this was high tea in the village founded by Welsh expatriates in Argentina on the Atlantic coast. Check out Gaiman if you are interested in your welsh ancestry. It was pretty good and this was $22 for two and all the black tea you can drink. 

Julia and Konstantin are back in Seattle now and their Sprinter van is on the way. Here we were having coffee at Punta Virgenes, the southernmost mainland point of Argentina, penguin country. 

Cute aren’t they, but they aren’t food unless you’re starving and at the end of your rope. 

And Peru has 4,000 varieties of potato. Interesting but the ones we eat normally still taste the best to me. I’m a creature of habit. 

There. Raid the fridge.