In so many countries around the world, access to magazines which highlight food and recipes seems almost, dare I say, excessive. While living in Peru, I enjoyed collecting recipes from the newspaper, buying the overly expensive cookbooks that seemed to come out once a year, and watching a variety of cooking shows from great chefs in Peru like Gaston and South American television dessert diva Sandra Plevisani. On February 20th a new foodie magazine was launched in Peru called Diva Kozina. Within its 80 pages, you will find articles, recipes, recommendations and interviews – all in Spanish of course! You can find Diva Kozina at Wong, Vivanda, bookstores Zeta and Crisol for S./ 15 ($5.50).
Peruvian Chef Gaston Acurio is declared the “the ambassador of the Peruvian cuisine in the world” by the Spanish magazine Viajar (Travel). Citing his work along with other great chefs of Lima, the Spanish magazine honors Lima as having been converted into the Gastronomy Capital of the Americas. The article points out that the commonly used ingredients such as seafood, potatoes, grains, fruits & vegetables have been things that Peru has always had. The magazine also highlighted the fusion between Peruvian and Chinese gastronomies, and between creole and Japanese food. All of the dishes of Peru, such as “Cebiches, chupes de camarones, causa limeña, lomo saltado, ají de gallina, anticuchos, tiraditos” and desserts like “suspiro a la limeña” make a trip to Peru a first class foodie escape.
After the devastating rains in Cusco which all but shut the city off from tourists, Peruvians are looking for ways to assist the people of Cusco. A Food Festival highlighting food from Cusco has been organized at the Swissotel in Lima from March 1 to 5. The per person cost for the buffet is S/. 69 ($25) and the proceeds will benefit those in Cusco which have been greatly affected by the rains this year.
A Peruvian hamburger chain, Bembos, has two restaurants open in Bombay, india and they plan to open another one in New Delhi, India during 2010. Also projected is the opening of a Pescados Capitales in Saudi Arabia during this year. Source: Andina. The owner of the restaurants chain Pardo’s Chicken decided to enter the ceviche business. The first restaurant has opened in the La Molina district, on La Fontana Avenue. Have you eaten there? What did you think?
South American food is the “new” Mexican.