Part Five: Items 41-50 You Won't Find In Peru

Part Five: Items 41-50 You Won't Find In Peru

101 Food Items You Won't Find in the Wonderfully Biodiversified country of Peru
a country which, according to Gaston Acurio, "has everything." (See article at http://www.livinginperu.com/news/14734)

41. Le Puy Lentils

These are considered to be the best type of lentil in the world because of their unique taste. Although found all over Europe and North America, you will not find these gourmet lentils in Peru.

42. Indian Tea


You will not find strong Indian-type black teas (the kind that is preferred in the UK) in Peru. Moreover, most tea is still sold in tea bags here. You will have to settle for Chinese tea which can be found in Chinatown in Lima. I would not recommend drinking the liquid produced by tea bags sold at Peruvian grocery stores. Peruvian tea is very low quality. You can occasionally find Peruvian black loose tea which is cheap but tastes nothing like tea is supposed to. So unless you are intending to make a chai heavily fortified with spices I wouldn't recommend it. Make a trip to Chinatown and buy good quality Chinese tea. No wonder Peruvians always buy teabags with clove (!?!) and cinammon added. The clove masks the taste of the low quality tea. 

43. Fennel Seeds


Although the bulbs are sold nearly everywhere here (often under the Spanish name for dill mind you!) you won't find the seeds here.

44. Beluga Lentils


These are the tastiest lentil variety after Le Puy. They have a wonderful meaty and earthy flavor. Unfortunately they aren't available in Peru.

45. Poblano Peppers


These have to be the second best tasting chile pepper, after Anaheim chiles. Essential for authentic Mexican food. You will have a hard time finding these in Peru.

46. Chipolte


These have become enormously popular throughout the world recently but are still not available in Peru. There is no real substitute as they don't smoke any foods in Peru, not even their verion of Spanish Chorizo sausage. 

47. Fresh Bamboo Shoots


These are one of my favorites. Unfortunately they are not commercially available here in Peru. You will have to buy cans imported from Asia in Chinatown in central Lima. The taste is obviously not the taste, but beggars can't be choosers.

48. Piel de Sapo


In my opinion, the best tasting melon in the world. Sadly the only melon you can find in Peru is cantaloupe and watermelon. What a variety, don't you agree? Piel de Sapo is grown and sold across the border in Brazil, but apparently it is allowed in Peru.

49. Real Ice Cream


Believe it or not, Peruvian ice cream is made with vegetable oils. There is no cream in the ice cream, not even in the most expensive brands. Most varieties contain water, sugar, vegetable oil, non-fat milk powder, flavorings and colors. By the way there is very little variety when it comes to flavors. The most common flavors are lucuma, strawberry,vanilla and choclotate. No matter where you go you will always see those four flavors or some combination of them. If you want real ice cream (and/or different flavors) you will have to buy imported ice creams. Many flavors, which are common in other countries (such as cherry, raspberry, pistachio, banana, maple, butterscotch, green tea, coconut, rose, cardamom, cinnamon, real vanilla bean, etc.) are completely unknown here.

50. Aged Cheese


If you are used to the wonderful aged cheeses of Europe you will be very disapointed when you taste Peruvian cheeses. Peruvians seem to focus on making fresh soft cheeses. They do make imitations of the better known European cheeses but they don't have the same taste or texture as they use artificial processes to "chemically age" the product instead of doing it properly. I won't even bother listing the names of the cheeses you won't find in Peru as they are too many good ones and the list would be very long.

Watch for my next update which will include food items numbers 51 through 60 (out of 101) that are not available in Peru, the land which "has everything" according to Gaston Acurio.