Peruvian food?

Welcome back to Peru Ají, where I share my passion for Peruvian food and, show you why it's worth exploring.

I was born and raised in Lima, but if you want to understand Peru, you have to get out of the capital. Lima is the beating heart, but the country’s soul is scattered across the Andes, the Amazon, the dessert and the Pacific coastline. It’s a place where geography dictates what ends up on your plate.

Salt Mine of Maras in Cuzco

The Andes: Home of the potato

If you think the British love potatoes, you haven’t met the Peruvians. We don’t just love them; we invented them. Our ancestors in the Andes domesticated over 4,000 varieties. That’s right—four thousand!

Walking through Cusco’s markets, you’ll see baskets piled high with papas of every shape and colour: deep purple, bright yellow, some with the twisted, gnarled shapes that resemble ancient artifacts. One of my best memories is sitting in a local kitchen in a small Andean town, eating papa a la huancaína—boiled potatoes drowned in a creamy, spicy, fluorescent yellow sauce made from queso fresco and ají amarillo. A dish so simple, yet so deeply Peruvian.

A selection of the thousands of native potato varieties that grow in Peru

(Source: The Guardian)

The Amazon: A World of new Ingredients

The Amazon is wild, humid, and completely unpredictable—just like its food. Walk through an Amazonian town and you’ll see fruits that look like they’ve been plucked from an alien planet: camu camu, lúcuma, aguaje, copuazú—all packed with flavours that make limes taste like tap water.

Then there’s juane, a rice dish wrapped in bijao leaves, looking like a prehistoric tamal, served up to celebrate the festival of San Juan. I had my first Juane in Lima, before I even set foot in the jungle. It was my introduction to the dish—fragrant, comforting, and wrapped neatly in a bijao leaf, the aroma alone enough to transport me somewhere wilder. But it wasn’t until later, in Pucallpa, that I really came to appreciate it. Pucallpa, sitting on the edge of the Ucayali River, is a gateway to the Amazon, a city where the scent of grilled fish and ripe fruit fills the air, where mototaxis zip through streets lined with wooden houses on stilts. The last Juanes I had before coming to the UK were there, and they were some of the best If you ever get the chance, eat one while balancing on a wooden bench in a floating restaurant, where the floor sways gently with the current.

A close-up of a Juane, unwrapped to reveal steaming rice, chicken, and spices

(Source: Andina.pe Juane)

The Coast: Ceviche and the Art of Simplicity

Coastal Peru is a place where the Pacific provides, and we take full advantage. Lima might be a chaotic metropolis, but on at lunchtime, cevicherías become sacred spaces.

Ceviche is proof that great food doesn’t need complication. Just five ingredients: fresh fish, lime juice, salt, onion, and ají limo. But if you mess up the balance? Disaster. (And trust me, Peruvians have opinions about what makes a proper ceviche.)

Ceviche, garnished with sweet potato and cancha corn

(Source: Peru Travel. Ceviche Culture in Peru)

Peruvian Food in London?

It’s strange that Peruvian food is still relatively unknown in London, especially when Peru has been named the World’s Leading Culinary Destination for the twelfth consecutive year by the World Travel Awards. How can a country that consistently tops global rankings for its cuisine still fly under the radar here?

Peruvian cuisine is bold, fresh, and full of history, just waiting for more people to discover it. So, if you’ve never tried Peruvian food before, start with something simple—maybe a great sandwich at Darkest Peru.

And if you’re already a fan, stick around. There’s plenty more to come.