Lydia and Celia 2

Lydia and Celia 2

Celia had invited us to her home for dinner last night. She made chuleta which is something like a porkchop; it was excellent. Her home was also amazing, it was a giant three stories with a sauna, built in bar, music room, and fish pond... There is clearly some very uneven distribution of wealth in Peru. After dinner we washed down our chuleta with some whisky - A very good night.

Cuy at Cicciolina

Cuy at Cicciolina

Cuy on top of Causa ( this wasn't the same dish the restaurant served but you get the idea )

Osobuco ( again this wasn't the same dish the restaurant served but you get the idea )

Cicciolina is a tapas style restaurant that serves some pretty amazing Peruvian food with a twist. It's a bit more pricey for Cusco, but we decided to treat ourselves because it was Collin's last night in Cusco. One of the appetizers that we had was Cuy ( guinea pig ) served on top of a bed of causa. It was amazing, and really not what I expected flavor wise from the tiny rodent. It was smokey and tender and reminded me of pork and something else that I couldn't really describe (rodent?). I had the lamb and my brother had Osobuco, which were both delicious. For some reason I didn't take any pictures, I think it was because I was too into eating and drinking. I've found the internet equivalents though. Overall, this place was excellent and very satisfying and I wish I could eat here every night.

San Pedro Market 2

San Pedro Market 2

Dick - nosed masks.....

Second trip to the market with my older brother.

Alpaca Steak

Alpaca Steak

My first time eating Alpaca and it was really quite amazing! The meat was lighter than beef but had a pork flavor to it. It was very soft and savory and I would have this again in a heartbeat. I wonder if they have Alpaca meat in the States?

Lydia and Celia

Lydia and Celia

Lydia and Celia, the students that Owen tutored were kind enough to take us out for lunch. They took us to a local cevicheria which served local fish. I was honestly a bit nervous about this, but the ceviche turned out to be amazing and so far my stomach is fine.

San Pedro Market

San Pedro Market

Lady selling frogs.

Tongue

Beef heart

Probably the most mysterious thing I've seen there. It looks like snake juice.

Fish roe

It looks as if it's winking

Snout

Not sure what this is, tripe?

Pup in a sweater sitting on sweaters

Fuzzy Llama hat ( I eventually bought one later ).

There's a ton of street dogs in Cusco, it makes me sad because I think they're really cute.

I walked over to San Pedro Market in the morning literally down the street of Trinitarias ( my brother's place ). It's a huge market selling all sorts of things like soaps, cheeses, vegetables, clothing, assorted meats, and the unclassifiable - all without refrigeration. It seems like almost everything can be found there, and I'll probably check it out again because I'm sure I've missed something. Since there's no refridgeration, the smell is pretty crazy especially around the meat section.

* Update: I forgot I took a picture of the vendor selling frogs. They smell kinda bad.

Inca Cola

Inca Cola

This is supposed to be one of the most popular beverages in Peru. Although yellow in color the flavor tastes of bubble gum.

Alpaca - I will eat you / Expanding my Meat Vocabulary

Alpaca - I will eat you / Expanding my Meat Vocabulary

One thing that I'm very much looking forward to is eating new things, especially animals that I've never tasted before. I guess you can say that I'm not that squeamish about my food as I have a tendency towards gut meat. Sadly, I've never eaten any land animal out of the norm - pig, chicken, cow. I was thrilled to learn from my brother that Alpaca tastes much like a bacon steak (or was that horse?). Anyhow, this picture that I dug up of the tasty animal looks quite good. Who can resist tasty skewers of meat ( not counting vegetarians )?