Good Eats and Thoughts of Grandma

Last night I had a little excursion with my friend Eliza, a great lady from Texas who speaks amazing Spanish and seems to be a walking Lonely Planet guide, to get a good dinner with some of the more traditional Peruvian dishes. We started with chicha morada, this tasty sweet drink that comes from strained purple corn - didn't know purple corn existed. Anyway, it was definitely good and we got a whole pitcher of it. Eliza cleverly characterized it as the Peruvian purple kool-aid, haha. We then had an appetizer called papa rellena, which was also very good! It's basically like fried potato filled with beef, onions, peppers and eggs. We had it with some very spicy sauce called salsa criolla, which it's usually served with. Then we moved on to the main course - mine was like a platter with a bunch of different dishes on it. First, carne seca de res, which was heavenly. It's thick beef steak with creamy potatoes, and lots of cilantro. It was just amazing. I also had aji de gallina, which is this thick milk-based stew which chicken served with white rice. This is where grandma comes in!

So since I was little my mom has made what she calls "rice with milk stew." It's definitely my favorite thing of all the delicious food she makes, and for the longest time I just assumed it was Nigerian. But I never had it at Nigerian parties or Nigerian friends' houses. One day I asked my mom where it was from and she told me that my grandma had just made it up. It was something she was just experimenting one day and it tasted really good. So she would make it for my mom and her family, and then she taught my mom and some of the other kids (my aunts) how to make it as well. So it's such a great dish because it definitely feels like a unique part of my family. Anyway, when I tasted it, I dropped my fork and stared at Eliza, which I think creeped her out for like a second. In my head I pictured my grandma and I smiled. Now it's not exactly the same, but the taste and consistency, and having it with white rice, definitely made my taste buds scream the word "home!"

I also had carapulcra, which I wasn't too too crazy about. I think it was like onions, a little beef, cilantro, etc. I don't remember it too much cuz it didn't stick out to me. Anyway, we had a wonderful meal, and Eliza schooled me on the lives of black Peruvians she knew and what she knew about their plce in Peruvian society. I joked a few nights ago with Julian and Daniel that when I see a black Peruvian, it's like an event for me. I get a little excited inside and I just want to ask the person so many questions. But I usually don't do that, I just take note of their existence. Eliza rightfully pointed out that here in Lima, they are mostly out of sight and the people you do see are doing menial work. That might be an improvement from Buenos Aires, where they are virtually non-existent, but still there's a pattern forming here...