Gastón Acurio proclaims Peru is country “with everything” Oh Really? :)

Recently, Gastón Acurio, the ambassador extraordinaire of Peruvian cuisine, proclaimed that Peru is country “with everything” when it comes to food. (See article at http://www.livinginperu.com/news/14734) This is of course a joke as Peru is notorious for having a very limited range and selection of food.

 Mister Gaston Acurio Himself while having an Orgasm Brought about by Thinking about Peruvian Food

 In the first few blog entries we will focus on what is NOT AVAILABLE in the glorious and wonderful country known as Peru. There are scores, if not hundreds, of food items commonly available in most countries around the world which you won't find in Peru. I will simply choose the first 101 that come to mind and present you with

101 Food Items You Won't Find in the Wonderfully Biodiversified country of Peru

Items 1-10

1. Lemons

Look at those beautiful mouth water lemons. You would think that lemons are a fruit that you could find the world over. They are available in Brazil, Argentine and even Chile. But NOT IN PERU. All you can find in Peru is a small bitter lime which they call "lemon" (limon) instead of using the proper Spanish word which is lima. Perphaps they want to deceive themselves into thinking they are eating real lemons. They all sell a strange variety of tasteless lime known as Limetta or Sweet Lime. Although they have yellow skin, they have virtually no taste.

You have to wonder why anyone in his right mind would bother cultivating and selling such a worthless fruit. But then if it doesn't make sense, then it must be Peruvian as anyone who lives here for any length of time will eventually come to realize. In most areas of the world, Citrus limetta trees are used only for ornamental purposes or for graft stock.

By the way, there is also no lemonade in Peru. What they sell as "limonada" is really bitter limeade.


2. Chestnuts
Sadly, there are no chestnuts in Peru. Look at these wonderful dried and roasted chestnuts:

That means you won't find candied chestnuts or chestnut spread or pastries/desserts either:

Truly sad most Peruvians will never be able to eat one of the most delicious nuts of the world. But don't worry as Peruvians have fooled themselves into thinking they are eating chestnuts by calling using the Spanish word for chestnut (Castanea) and using it for cheap tasteless (and, according to wikipedia, toxic) brazil nuts.

3. Turnips
Unbelievably, there are no turnips in Peru. Although the root and greens and commonly used around the world you won't find a trace of them in Peru.

The Peruvians have managed to lie to themselves once again however. They use the Spanish word for turnip, which is Nabo, and apply to to a daikon radish (Rabano in Spanish). It is as if the Peruvians were saying we know we don't have turnips but let's just call this other vegetable here a turnip so we don't have to feel left out when we hear the constant references to this strange vegetable in recipe books and on films and television so that we don't fell left out. It would be hilarious, if it wasn't so sad and pathetic.


4. Dates

Dates are one of the most popular dried fruits in the world. Even though you find them in other South American countries you will not find them in Peru.

Look at those delectable dates. I really miss them. I have to wait for the occasional package from back home in order to be able to enjoy them. Very rarely, someone will import a small number of dates into Peru and will sell them at exorbitant prices. My advice is to snatch them up as soon as possible because they won't last long. They always sell out quickly because they are so rare here. It is truly sad that most Peruvian will never know the pleasure of eating a delectable date.

5. Whole Wheat Flour

It is truly unbelievable that whole wheat flour would be unavailable in any country on the planet but in Peru it is next to impossible to purchase whole wheat flour. The onlykind of bread sold in Peru is white bread. The "imitation whole wheat" is ALWAYS made with white flour with some bran, wheat germ, fat and coloring added. There are no exceptions. I have looked at every brand and at numerous supermarkets, grocery stores and open air markets and no one has the real thing.

The problem is that Peru imports most of its wheat and it imports only white flour so that anyone who wants to eat healthy in Peru will just have to get rid of the bad habit of eating bread or pay exorbitant prices for little pieces of whole rye bread imported from Europe.


6. Honeydew Melon


It is pretty shocking that this commonplace melon is no where to be found in Peru.

You can only find cantaloupes and watermelon in Peru.

7. Kale


This very tasty vegetable is not found in Peru.

You will have to settle for plain old cabbage in Peru.


8. Hazlenuts


These are one of my favorite nuts. Even though hazlenuts arewidely available in Brazil and other South American countries you will not find them in Peru, the world center of food diversity.

If you want to taste hazlenuts in Peru you will have to buy imported chocolates which contain hazlenuts or imported hazlenut chocolate spread. If you don't like chocolate, you are out of luck.




9. Green Bell Peppers


You will only find red bell peppers in Peru.

Even though green peppers are just under ripe bell peppers they are never sold green.  At best you may find a red bell pepper that has a few patches of green still on it.
 


10. Green Tomatoes


Yes. Unbelievable but true. Only red tomatoes (two varieties) are sold in Peru. No matter where you go you will always see the same two varieties of red tomatoes. The most common is a tasteless Roma variety. Another variety is roundish like the common tomato of commerce and is more expensive, but worth the price, as the Roma elongated variety has no flavor.

Yum. Those green tomatoes look so good right now. Too bad that I won't be able to find them here in the unbelievably diverse selection available here in the glorious country of Peru that every one knows is brimming with biodiversity.


Watch for my next update which will include food items numbers 11 through 20 (out of 101) that are not available in Peru.