Written by Jill one of our very talented non-blogging members. This is the first of a 2-part series. 
A few years ago I traveled to the Atacama Desert of southern Peru to work at an archaeological dig. I had a lot of expectations about my trip, but they didn’t really include any thoughts about what I’d be eating. I guess I’d never considered the cuisine of Peru or, if I had, I probably had some vague impression of spicy beans and rice, and not much else. I didn’t really expect to like the food, instead viewing it as sustenance for my hard days of work, and I definitely didn’t expect to fall in love with Peruvian food. But I did.
Peruvian cuisine is incredibly culturally diverse and geographically varied. Like anywhere else, it ranges from simple and homey to complex culinary creation. It’s so diverse, in fact, that I couldn’t possibly hope to cover all my bases here, so I hope this will just be a starting point for you if, like me, you’d never thought about Peruvian food. This seems like a good place for me to say that I am by no means an expert on this topic. I’ve only been to Peru once and I stayed mostly in one region. That was enough, though, to create a deep and lasting impression on me, and I’ve experimented with Peruvian cooking ever since.
Where I was staying outside of Palpa, Ica, we had a woman who came everyday and cooked for us. Her name was Señora Viki, and she was an amazing cook. It’s her food that I remember the most from my time in Peru, so that’s mostly what I’m going to talk about here. We got up at 4:30 and ate a calorie-filled breakfast of eggs, rolls, cheese, jam, yogurt, and oatmeal. We left at 5:00 and were at the site by 6:00. There we worked without stopping or eating until 2:30, and when we got back we had our one big meal of the day. My point is that any food would have been welcome, but Señora Viki always presented beautiful and delicious food, and she was delighted to show us the best of the local cuisine. It was simple, down-to-earth food, but it was filling and extremely flavorful. We’d start with a cool green salad, or maybe cold chicken salad served in half an avocado.
