Gastronomy Tours: The many Flavours of Peru

Peruvian cuisine reflects local cooking practices and ingredients and, through immigration, influences from Spain, China, Italy, West Africa, and Japan. Due to a lack of ingredients from their home countries, immigrants to Peru modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. The three traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are corn, potatoes, and beans. These ingredients have been combined with a number of staples brought by the Spanish, such as rice, wheat and meat (such as beef, pork and chicken). Many traditional foods such as quinoa, kiwicha, chili peppers, and several roots and tubers have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in native Peruvian foods and culinary techniques.

Our first experience will be at the Mercado de Surquillo, where we will have the chance to see and try  different products of Peru.

Taking advantage of the lesser traffic on a Sunday, we will explore downtown or Central Lima. After a quick stop at a local market for fresh fruit juice, we head to the Main Square, called the Plaza Mayor or Plaza De Armas. Next stop is the San Francisco Convent, arguably the greatest architectural complex of its kind in Latin America, we’ll explore a network of underground galleries and catacombs that were a cemetery in colonial times. Next we walk around the Plaza de Armas, surrounded by such important buildings as the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s house, the Cathedral and City Hall.

Then we walk through the most popular pedestrian street in Lima, the Jiron de la Union, to the San Martin Square, which was inaugurated in 1921 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the independence of Peru. On the plaza San Martin is the historic hotel, the Gran Bolivar, which is worth a look around and maybe enjoy a “chela” (beer), or its bar’s famous Pisco Sour. There are many great places downtown for lunch. One of the popular and most charming ones is the historic El Cordano Bar, founded by Italians and famous for its sandwiches, such as “Butifara”. Also the tradicional China Town  located in Lima downtown, here we will try the Peruvian – Chinesse fusion called Chifa.

After lunch, We will go to Barranco neigborhood, we will walk around it and finally we will visit a handicraft gallery.

You return to the hotel in the late afternoon.

What is included? 

• Transportation
• Private Guide & assistance
• Admission fees
• Degustations

What to bring?

• Backpack for the day, watter, camera