Arequipa the city with one of the best Gastronomies in the world?

YES!!! It is true!

According to a report by the international network CNN en Español, Arequipa`s cuisine is one of the best in South America, representing the wide and multi-fast variety of Peruvian cuisine. A land where culinary traditions have been preserved and protected over time, Arequipa`s cuisine has up to 194 typical dishes, thus being considered the most diverse in Peru.

The emblematic rocoto pepper is the cornerstone of Arequipa cuisine, which has the curious custom of presenting a dish for each day of the week: Monday is the day of the chaque, a soup made from vegetables, beef, tripe of lamb and various condiments, among which you cannot miss the minced hot pepper for a spicy touch. On Tuesdays, chairo is served, on Wednesdays, chococa, on Thursdays, chupe colorado or chuño, on Fridays the so-called "chupe de Mañana", a typical dish of Easter that is made with fish in pieces, vegetables, milk, eggs, corn, potatoes, and it is seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano among other ingredients. Saturday is the day of the stew or timpusca, and Sunday closes the week with a white broth, a pebre de loins or an Arequipa marinade.

The generous fertility of the Arequipa valleys offers the best ingredients for these preparations: onions, rice, hot peppers, garlic, as well as pastures for raising high-quality cattle, which provide the meat and milk that allow to keep the Arequipa cuisine its traditional quality standard, not counting the proximity of rivers and the sea that offer the freshest seafood for the gastronomic variety of the region.

The miscegenation of Arequipa cuisine expresses the fusion of the different cultures that have made life in this area: pre-Columbian cultures, the Inca empire, and the European gastronomic culture brought with the conquest. The “picanterías”, traditional culinary establishments in Peru, which owe their name to the tradition of serving spicy foods, keep and preserve the heritage of this gastronomic miscegenation.

The list prepared by CNN, which covers a wide range of South American cuisines, also includes preparations such as the Brazilian feijoada, the Paraguayan soup, the bami met kip from Paramaribo, in Suriname, and the arepas, the Creole pavilion and the Venezuelan patacón. Nor could they miss the silpancho from Bolivia, the Carmenere wine from Colchagua, in Chile, the Colombian coffee and the asado from Argentine Patagonia.

Nowadays, the typical and delicious Peruvian dishes are widely available both in restaurants and by delivery, and not only in Peru but in many other countries: shrimp chupe, Arequipa adobo and stuffed rocoto have won the hearts of the diners from all over the world, who can enjoy the varied and delicious Peruvian food at home or in restaurants from wherever they are.

Publication Date: 2019-09-03

Source: cnn, miftravel.com, cheh timour