Tag: food

How we fell in love with Japan. Our first days in Osaka

For Jandirk Japan has been a dream waiting to happen. He loves manga, Japanese food, origami and Studio Ghibli. For me it was a brand new destination on my bucket list. A few years ago I didn’t even want to go to Japan. In my mind it was a futuristic country without proper culture and with plenty of cold people… ow boy was I wrong…

Flying from Sri Lanka to Japan we knew we were in for a big shock but nothing could prepare us for what was coming. We landed in Osaka where we met our Japanese friend Juri, that we became friends with back in Panama. She offered us the most incredible experience we could ever ask for. We stayed at her grandmother’s house! 🙂 Juri and her family were just so warm and open for us. Her grandma talked to us all the time 🙂 It was all in Japanese but sometimes we could really understand her and her smile was just warming our hearts. On the other hand the homemade food was warming our stomachs. Most associate Japan with sushi and maybe sashimi but it’s not just raw food. There are varieties of soups, fermented beans and dried ingredients. As weird as they sometimes sound (dried fish with sesame seeds as a snack) they are delicious, full of flavor and mild. Such a relief to our stomachs after spicy curries on Sri Lanka.

Then the technology struck us. First visit to the toilet and we were charmed. Warmed toilet seat, built in bidet and even relaxing sounds in public toilets were inventions that surprised us. Those were not the only ones. When the evening came it turned out that the Japanese like to relax and take a bath rather than a fast shower. We literally dived into the bathtub which turned out to be way deeper than the ones we have in Europe. If we have them… Here even those can be really brought to another level, computer pouring the exact amount of water, bringing it to the right temperature and keeping it that way… Traditional but yet so futuristic and modern.

What is better after a good, warm bath than a long comfortable sleep, right? We were a bit anxious we wouldn’t be able to achieve that as we were about to sleep on a tatami floor so essentially many straw mats put on top of each other. On top of that we put a futon which is a Japanese style, very thin mattress. And voila a beautiful and potentially very uncomfortable bed is ready! We fell asleep immediately and we slept just great.

Then we got to see the city with Juri. Strolling through the streets we were surprised by how modern but not western they were. How the people took their time in everything they did and how everything was just done to the best of their abilities. There was just perfection everywhere we looked. Walking between blossoming plum trees in the park next to the Osaka Castle we met a lovely old man who sketched a little map including every plum tree from the park. All that to visit the trees, write down how they blossom, when and for how long. He has been doing that for many, many years. There was just so much love and passion in his story and in the way he spoke about it. We felt enchanted but also sad… Because in Japan it’s hard to talk to people unless you speak Japanese and we knew Juri wouldn’t travel with us forever.

There is no way I could write about any Japanese city and skip the food and street life. In Osaka it’s absolutely essential. There is nothing better than to stroll through the Dotonbori District in the evening surrounded by neons and crowds. Every cafeteria and bar looked cozy, spectacular and inviting. Every shop had a beautiful display. I thought plastic food on display would be off putting. Here it just looked realistic and mouthwatering. Every restaurant showcased what they had on the menu so I think the fake dishes were actually made to order and customized. Sometimes we really had to look closer to see if it was the real deal or a great imitation.

Juri took us out with her friend and made us realize how different everything seemed. We thought we knew what karaoke was. People getting drunk singing their hearts out to more or less pleased public at the last call of the night. Not in Japan. Here you go with your friends, you rent a room in a kind of entertainment center you sit down on a couch like if you were home and then it starts. There is nothing uncomfortable about it, you sing and have fun with the people you know and like. You don’t have to be drunk either and it doesn’t even have to be the middle of the night. We went at 5 pm with our green tea and soft ice cream we sang our souls out to the western hits and even Disney songs.

Although normally we don’t go to zoos/aquariums we decided to do an exception for Osaka. We didn’t regret it for a minute. Osaka aquarium was massive and except for the usual we also saw a whale sharks and an incredible selection of jelly fish. Something we could have never seen diving. Or better we would prefer not to see them diving as many are just really dangerous.

In Osaka we felt we were off for a great start of what could be the best part of our journey so far. So a bit sad but excited we were off to Kyoto.

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Kalouts, Iran

Things to know before you go to Iran

Iran is one of those complicated countries where you really want to be prepared for some things. Otherwise it can be quite a challenge to survive not to mention spoil the enjoyment. So here are few tips and lessons we used/learned during our travels in there as well as some curiosities. Some of these we learnt the hard way. Hopefully you won’t have to 🙂

  1. To get to Iran we got our visa on arrival at the airport. We heard rumors that it’s a long process so we were surprised that ours was ready within 45 minutes. You just need to have your first address in Iran (so first hotel, friend etc) and the phone number and valid insurance which preferable says Iran. If you don’t you can buy it in the airport. We got 30 days visa for 75 euros each.
  2. People with a stamp from Israel are not allowed… And citizens of Israel even less. For them country of Israel doesn’t even exist, it’s occupied Palestine.
  3. Iran is SUPER SAFE!! Seriously we never felt safer. As a foreigner you have a status of a holy cow that no one wants to hurt especially with all the Islam stigma that they have and want to erase. In general they don’t really have a culture of stealing or anything like that. You can calmly talk to people, go to their houses etc.
  4. There is no option of withdrawing money in Iran unless you have an Iranian bank account. It means that you have to take cash for your whole stay. It can be either dollar or euro. It doesn’t matter. Many of the hotels except a foreign currency and some give their prices in USD or euro. We set up our budget on 70 euro a day for us both and we managed to keep it that way or lower. Don’t forget that you also have to pay for the visa on arrival. We paid 75 euro each.
  5. Money exchange. The rate that you get on google is way lower that the one you will be offered at exchange offices. We got 40-41 000 rials for one euro. Don’t go to banks, there you will get lower, google exchange rate…
  6. Prices are sometimes expressed in toman and sometimes in rials. Toman is generally one zero less than rials. So 40 000 rials would be just 4 000 toman. It can be very confusing so make sure you understand what you have to pay. Also many times Iranians just skip all the zeros. And so if a taxi driver says “five” he probably means 5 000 toman so 50 000 rials.
  7. Especially for woman there is a dress code. Absolute necessity is a scarf covering part of all your hair. Further you should cover your legs down to ankles and have a loose tunic and dress to cover the curves of your butt. Shoulders and arms should also be covered at least to elbow. In holy shrines and some mosques you will need to wear a chador but you can borrow it there 🙂 for men it’s pretty simple: no shorts…
  8. Drinking alcohol is prohibited so all the beer that you’ll see in the supermarkets are alcohol free and taste like a lemonade… To get some booze you would need to go a bit more underground… And generally it’s not advisable to drink in public places. We heard it’s a rather expensive entertainment as you need to bribe the police and give your booze to them.
  9. Wifi in hostels tends to be pretty bad and limited. It’s best to just get a local sim card and mobile internet. We bought a local sim card for 100 000 rials and 3 gb internet for 150 000 rials valid for a month.
  10. Many web pages are blocked so to enter Facebook, one drive, CNN, Airbnb or many other sites you need a VPN. What it basically means it that you have to send your internet through another country. You can either pay in Iran to get a VPN or you can set up your own. That’s what we did. We set up a computer in Holland and send the signal through there.
  11. Iran is all about tea! It’s a true paradise for tea drinkers. And I’m not talking about the boring black tea. Here it’s always with a little something extra like cardamom or saffron or rose petals. For coffee drinkers … well it can be complicated. Although cafés are appearing the whole time to supply that need as well:)
  12. Getting local food can be challenging because when Iranians go out to eat they mostly go for kebab and fast food. Fortunately we have visited few restaurants with local food that were great but be prepared for higher prices. For a falafel or kebab you can pay 1 or 2 euros while for a meal in a nice restaurant maybe around 6 euros.
  13. Not only the alphabet is different but also the numbers so it’s very handy to learn the numbers to be able to understand the prices:) also take a look at the books, they are written from right to left (except for numbers they are written from left to right) and the front page is our last page:D
  14. Persians are not Arabs! They will be offended when you get that wrong. They have their own language, own culture and costumes. It’s like mistaking a Polish for a Russian 🙂 Pretty bad right?
  15. Friday is their Sunday. So many things are closed although most of the museums and touristic things remain open.
  16. If you’re a couple and you want to hug and kiss, get a room. Literally. It’s illegal to display affection in public between men and women. Holding hands every now and then it’s a maximum. Man to man hugging etc is a different story … Actually men have a lot of affection for each other, they kiss on their cheeks to say hi, they hug… Maybe not in the middle of the street but almost:) Gay guys travelling in Iran could get pretty confused:)
  17. Remember to take off your shoes when going on a carpet or into a mosque!
  18. Hot shower is never a problem and also the heating in the winter is everywhere 🙂 with oil and gas being so cheap you will never get cold, you are more likely to sweat in the winter actually:) Interestingly in public toilets you might not find toilet paper but there will be plenty of soap:)
  19. Don’t throw toilet paper into the toilet!!
  20. Take a copy of your passport. Hotels and hostels will want to keep your passport while you’re there but we didn’t really feel comfortable with that so we always left a copy. They usual only needed a copy of the main page and not the visa.
  21. If Iranians offer you something like food or free ride refuse 3 times to make sure they are not just being polite. It’s Tarof and it’s like their savoir vivre.
  22. Pray before crossing the road. There is no mercy there, Iranians drive like crazy and they won’t stop for anyone. Pedestrians crossing lines and lights are there just for decoration.
  23. Bargain! You want to take a taxi, buy something or get a room. You need to bargain otherwise you will pay wayyyy too much.
  24. Most of the places are nowhere to be found online. You can’t find them on booking.com or aribnb. And they mostly don’t have a webpage. But at least in most of the cities most hotels/hostels/guesthouses are in the same area. So we just searched for options on wikitravel and then we walked around from door to door. Don’t get your hopes up from wikitravel prices, in many places they’re just ancient. Anyway any price you hear, you have to bargain. If you stay more than one night, you have a greater chance to get a better price.
  25. More expensive is not always better! We saw rooms for 60 dollars that were dark, shabby and stinky and rooms that were for 30 dollars and were neat and nice. We got an impression that star rating doesn’t say much and nor does the price. You need to see it all yourself.
  26. Bargain in local currency! Although in many places you can pay in euros or dollars, often you get better prices if you bargain in local currency.
  27. Women first. Woman can seat in the “man section” of the bus or metro. But in the “women only “part, it’s women only:) as a woman you will get offered to sit in the men section.
  28. No hand shaking. As a woman you don’t shake a man’s hand unless they initiate it. I got denied shaking hands many times.
  29. You will smell roses. Rose water and rose petals are everywhere, in food, tea, perfumes… it’s unmissable when walking around the streets.
  30. Nose job. It’s very common, especially for women to get their nose done. So you will see a lot of women and some man with plasters on their noses. Actually it’s in to wear it even if you haven’t done anything… we saw quite a few cases like that.
  31. Cats and dogs are considered unclean and not so great for the family. So we haven’t met anyone who would have them at home… But there are plenty of cats on the streets and they actually look quite good as they are fed by everyone 🙂

 

Hopefully this post will help you a bit to enjoy Iran to the fullest and spot more small things along the way 🙂

Cayo Boliviar

Colombian paradise- San Andres and Providencia

To prepare ourselves for Christmas we decided to start December with a vacation. As ridiculous as it sounds, as some people think we have been on vacation for 10 months already. But this time we wanted an oasis of peace, stuff booked, no searching, just chill, relax and diving. Miraculously (as December-January are super busy, summer months when everybody has vacation) we found cheap flights to Colombian islands just off the coast of Nicaragua...San Andres y Providencia.
San Andres was well... Busy, a bit too party style and definitely it did not look as anything even close to a paradise, well maybe after few piña coladas... Diving was also not really anything special, it was more a search for a reef then admiring it. But from there we took an organised trip to Cayo Boliviar which is a tiny island only reachable by those trips or a private boat.Cayo Boliviar We still haven't won any lottery so there was only one way to get there. To say adventurous is an understatement. Boat was jumping up and down, hitting the water so hard that I was sure it was our last trip. Even more dramatically, everyone was screaming possibly because some of the beauty queens were trembling for their make-up. But after an hour we arrived in paradise.... 50 shades of blue water, sandy beach, perfect place to snorkel and even the crowds when spreaded were not that bad. While snorkeling we even saw some nurse sharks, only because they were fed by the guides but still beautiful too see. But the best was yet to come... Providencia.
Providencia is a smaller island, close by San Andres. The only way to get there is by boat or by plane from San Andres. Many think it's too big of a hassle so there are not that many tourists and the island is more virgin in every way. Own language, Creole is omnipresent. It's a weird version of English. And the cuisine is just superb, only place in the world where we ate only lobsters, crabs and fish and all delicious, fresh and ridiculously cheap. The island has also an amazing architecture, traditional wooden houses painted as cheerful as possible. The sight immediately lifts the spirit if the views or diving doesn't do it.
To get there we decided to go by boat, we both love the sea, waves and cheaper options:) but on that catamaran we couldn't see anything as the waves were hitting all the windows constantly. But the worse was the puking party. P1140839-16There were bags with content flying everywhere. Even a special vomit master appeared to take care of the content and make sure new bags were ready so that no other passenger was endangered by the flying liquids. And like that for 4h. All worth it. The island was what I had in mind thinking about paradise. Unbelievable sea, shades of blue, food, architecture and polish vodka on the shelves of the shops (!). Thank god there is even one hostel on the island otherwise we would need to sleep on the beach which could be painful as there are sooooo many crabs walking at night. Actually the island closes their roads twice a year for a crab migration. Basically first they have to close the roads because of black crabs coming from the mountains to lay their eggs and later when the little crabs come out they have to close them again to make sure they can go safely to the mountains.

But going back to our the hostel it's worth saying that it was not a real hostel. I mean it was actually just one of the huts rented from a resort and I could easily see that concept of sharing space by 6 foreigners seemed absurd to them. White people who are not rich enough to rent a whole hut and need to share it? Weird:) But thanks to that little hut we met an amazing Swiss guy Nico and a one of a kind Canadian- Gabe. We immediately became friends and to my surprise soon our group was joined by another polish living in Amsterdam- Natalia. And so the days went on diving, eating crabs, lobsters and the evening went by with rum, polish singing and long discussions. It all felt like a true vacation, vacation in paradise. And the diving made it all really special... Sharks, sting rays, coral reefs, variety of fish... all there. And underneath a few pics from paradise to make you all guys feel jealous in the European winter.

How much does it all cost?

  1. To get to San Andres you can buy pretty cheap flights from all bigger Colombian cities- we went from Medellin and we paid around 100 euro per person (return ticket) with checked in baggage (flying with Viva Colombia)
  2.  To get to actual paradise, so to Providencia there are two options: catamaran (164 000 colombian pesos for return so around 47 euros), plane (162 000 colombian pesos one way so around 47 euros)
  3. For entering the islands you need to buy a tourist card at the airport which costs 49 000 pesos (around 14 euro)
  4. There is one hostel on Providencia which costs 45 000 colombian pesos (around 13 euro) per bed per night, there are actually plenty of other, affordable accommodations that can't be found online but the locals will make sure you find them as soon as you get off the catamaran/plane
  5. Diving is actually not that expensive- 160 000-180 000 pesos (around 45-51 euros) for a two tank dive (you go to the spot with a boat)
  6. Eating out: on San Andres we actually had a kitchen in the hostel so we cooked but on Providencia we had to eat out and there is something for every budget. Main meals are between 18 000 (around 5 euros) and 60 000 (around 17 euros) colombian pesos and 60 000 being a lobster with salad etc at the best restaurant. Actually the cheaper food was also pretty yummi and good quality.
  7. It's good to rent a Kawasaki Mule, or motocycle to drive around the whole island and to go to Santa Catalina which is a tiny island joined with Providencia by a colorful bridge. To rent a motorcycle or scooter is around 50 000- 70 000 pesos (around 14- 20 euros) per day and a mule is around 110 000 pesos per day (around 31 euros)

Best diving spots:

  1. Manta's Place- quite shallow dive (up to 12 m) but absolutely beautiful and we saw a few big sting rays over there, that I'm not going to mention the coral and the variety of fish
  2. Piedra Tortuga- an amazing place, full of sharks (but sharks are literally everywhere on deep dives around Providencia), beautiful coral, actually we went between two walls of coral which was stunning
  3. Felipe's Place- great canyon dive, again lots of sharks and fish
  4. Tete's Place- similar to Manta's Place, also a shallow dive with lots of coral and fish and some sting rays

 

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Choquequirao, Peru

How much does it cost to travel in Peru? Our budget and tips

Peru is a country of contradictions so also the spendings are extreme from really cheap dorms to expensive restaurants. In Peru we really wanted to do everything possible just because for us it wasn't a country that we would LOVE to come back to. Let's say people over there were not our favorite part of Peru. And so we stayed for 70 days spending a total 5227 euro so 37 euro per day per person. That includes fancy dining and also a new laptop and some clothes:)

Where did we go?

In Peru we saw a bit of everything. We started around Lake Titicaca which we didn't like at all so we moved quite fast to Cusco. There we stayed for a long time to explore all the surrounding ruins. When all the Inca constructions and mummies started to look alike we hit the road again to get to Lima. The city itself didn't take our breath away (not even with the amount of pollution in the air) so we left it after a few days to see a bit of Peruvian coast. And so we ended up in Huanchaco, a tiny town on the coast. From there we went for the adventure- The Amazon, visiting Tarapoto, Yurimaguas, Lagunas and Samiria- Pacaya National Park. Afterwards on the way out of Peru we passed by Chachapoyas.

How did we travel?

By kayak, by local buses, on foot:) spending 458 euros on transport (including bus to Guayaquil in Ecuador)
Example of bus ride: Bus from Lima to Trujillo was 75 soles (around 21 euro) and it took around 20 hours.

Where did we stay?

In tents, on the floor in the jungle, in dorms and sometimes in private rooms.

On accommodation we spend 828 euro spending 21 days in private rooms and the rest in dormitories, tents and on the floor. Generally the prices in dormitories didn't vary that much per city but the private rooms were a different story. In cities they were way more expensive than in the Amazon or close to Lake Titicaca.

Examples: a bed in dorm in Cusco was a cost of around 6-9 euro. Going to the Amazon for 15 euros we already had a private room with private bathroom.

What did we eat?

From shitty imitation Chinese food to high quality food in fancy restaurants- in Peru we wanted to try everything, it's highest and it's lowest just because it seems to have the best food of South America (Peruvian dreamers even say world's best). We did have some amazing food but as a cuisine I wouldn't say it was anywhere near Asian, French , Italian or even Spanish.

We spend 538 euros cooking on our own. Buying ingredients without saving in the supermarkets  and local markets (no dry rice or instant noodles unless on a hike). 1039 euros was invested in various eating out experiences, some fancy and some on the edge of poisonous (our dinning experiences in Lima)

How expensive are museums, tours etc?

On tourism we spent 1722 euro  of which around 843 dollars went for a 5 day Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu (for the two of us). The rest went for different hikes that we did (Choquequirao trek), excursion through the Amazon, entrances to museums and ruins.

What else did we spend our "soles" on?

In Peru we finally bought a laptop- tired of trying to post and write and do everything with a smartphone. We also bought some clothes. All of that falls into the category "equipment" which cost us 393 euros.

In miscellaneous (249 euros) we placed hairdresser failures, liters of mosquito repellent, washing our clothes etc.

Our tips to save money in Peru:

  1. Hike on your own, renting equipment and buying food is way cheaper than going with an agency and the exact routes can be found online
  2. To avoid spending money on withdrawing cash just send money to yourself via Azimo. You can send up to 800 euros in local currency or in dollars and you pay only up to 3 euros for the transfer
  3. Always check buses before buying, the price varies insanely depending on the company, comfort of the seat and time.
  4. On short distances try to use local buses
  5. If Machu Picchu is too expensive, think of an alternative trek. For example Choquequirao- cheaper, more adventurous and less crowded
  6. Don't go to Iquitos or Manu for a jungle experience, those are already pretty touristic so prices are already adjusted to heavy wallets. Choose mostly skipped Lagunas from where a local guide and a whole excursion will cost you veryyyyy little

P.S. Exchange rate used 1 EUR = 3.56 PEN

If you have any questions or you would like to take a look at our spreadsheet, let us know:)

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Astrid and Gaston, Lima, Peru

Fine and not so fine dining in Lima

We knew already before coming to Lima that for us it would be only a food destination. This was made clear again as soon as we came to Lima that it was not for us... Lacking the beautiful colonial architecture or character of Cusco unfortunately what it didn't lack is the performances of the national sport of Peru- honking... Everyone's driving so a ton of people honking for no reason at all. Music for your ears. That I'm not going to mention what a challenge it is to cross the street having the green light, all the cars were not even slowing down just letting you know by honking how determined they are to kill you if you don't run away. City jungle.

Coming to a new place we always want to taste the local cuisine and that one starts on the streets. And so we started by tasting causas (kind of potato mash normally stapled in two layers and chicken or fish or veg in between) and ceviche (fish in cubes "cooked" in lemon juice). It was not bad and it didn't end up in diarrhea but it didn't blow us away. Far more poisonous was "El Barrio Chino" which is famous in Lima for chifa style of cooking so a fusion of Cantonese and Peruvian. The food we tasted over there was just horrible... Soooo soaked in fat that even KFC would seem healthy next to it and it didn't have any spice in it. As usual almost no veg just because rice and potatoes are vegetables enough... At least we didn't pay much for this food mistake.
Our hopes built up with a visit to Larco cafeteria (yep cafeteria of a museum!!!) which actually sold nice sandwiches and causas (well except for soggy French fries but you can't have it all).

All of that was just a starter for what we were really looking forward to.... Best restaurants in the world:) 3 of the 50 are in Lima so we absolutely couldn't miss that chance. Number 4 was not available unless we made a reservation two months before which we didn't. But fortunately we could visit number 14, Astrid y Gastón. The restaurant is situated in a nice old hacienda and just like usually it's not really well marked so unless you know it's there, you won't find it. We were both blown away by the design, really modern but kind of cosy, home style (And thank God cuz we were both under dressed not to say a bit hobo).

Their service was also spectacular, separate guy from tea, separate guy from water and all of them nice and saying "thank you" and "you're welcome" which is a nice change in the country where those words seem to be out of use. Unfortunately we were not blown away by the starters and mains, not that we didn't like them but they were not as delicious and tasty as we expected from nr 14 in the world. But God the desserts were just smashingly good!!! Firstly I had a Lucuma dessert, a symphony based on a traditional Peruvian fruit of that name which was just spectacular with fresh raspberries and splashes of sauce made with purple corn.

Jandirk went for a white peach dessert which was outstanding as well. Tempted we both decided to try another dessert and so I took the strawberry dessert with vanilla, yogurt and an absolutely yummy wine sauce:) Jandirk took a rich chocolate one with banana and caramel....-) still now thinking about these desserts makes us smile :))))

As Jandirk was not satisfied with only one fine dinning experience we decided to visit restaurant "IK" which was the most spectacular dining experience in our lives and by far. The restaurant looked spectacular, all green and full of plants with windows on the kitchen through which we saw a well oiled machine of working people and a beautiful, traditional mud oven. Even the tables were original with their projections of native ingredients of Peru like coffee, lucuma and Inca berry.

We went crazy with the 12 course tasting menu and o my God it was worth it!!! Everything starting from the service which was really good and fun... For example when I was going to the toilet they would take my napkin to bring a new one with tweezers (never too sterile). But the food, the art, the theater.... Unbelievable and worth every dollar that we spent on it. Every dish had a story, presented native Peruvian ingredient from a different zone either from the Amazon, coast or deep Andes and all of them had a story and taste... They were all one of a kind and absolutely delicious. And so we ate eatable leaves from a branch, spicy (finally!!) Amazonian ceviche, roasted Andean potatoes, Amazonian fish, Amazonian tomato salad, pork belly, corn and we even normally don't like corn, all of the ones we tried at "IK" were unbelievable. In the end we tasted a dessert made entirely from a cocao bean, all if its parts which you normally throw away. And it was an unforgettable, symphony and what food is all about, bitter, sweet, refreshing and simply presented in the bean shell itself.

Afterwards we still got a tree which represented a traditional Peruvian celebration called Yunza. Obviously it had something tiny and delicious like chocolates to eat:) after 4 h of the experience of our lifetime we went to our 6 dollars per bed 14 bed dorm :)) money somewhere saved, elsewhere spent.

How much does it cost to dine in Lima?
The restaurants we have visited and how much they cost

  1. IK restaurant- unbelievable, decadent, truly delicious 12 course menu is 300 soles (83 euro) per person so in total we paid 730 soles (203 euro) for their tasting menu, two drinks, water and a little, delicious bread at the start
  2. Astrid y Gastón- for their not so mind blowing starters and mains and absolutely outstanding 4 desserts we paid 600 soles (166 euro), starters between 48- 79 soles (around 13-22 euro), mains 48- 109 soles (around 22-30 euros), desserts 36-42 soles (around 10- 12 euros), they also have a tasting menu which costs around 110 euro per person
  3. Larco cafeteria- good food in a nice, garden surrounding after a visit to the museum cost us 90 soles (25 euro)
  4. El Barrio Chino- tasteless and almost poisonous meal in the Chinese district cost us 23 soles (6 euro)
  5. Chifa Titi- less poisonous but still pretty tasteless dinner cost us 245 soles (68 euro)

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Cassava a la Huancaína

Cassava a la Huancaína

Cassava is a native South American vegetable that I never knew what to do with, even though I saw it quite often in Dutch supermarkets. The answer came from the Peruvian cuisine... delicious deep fried cassava with a creamy, spicy sauce. Here is the recipe. Yummy 🙂

Cassava a la Huancaína for 4 people (as a starter)

Ingredients:

1 kg Cassava
4 Chillies
20 peanuts (unsalted)
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic
few leaves of parsley
30 ml whole milk
8 crackers
Oil for deep frying

Recipe:

- Peel the cassava and cook until it is a bit soft (like cooked potato) +/- 25 min
- Cut the cooked cassava in pieces (around the size of Belgium fries) removing the core
- Deep fry the cassava until golden at 180°C

 

For the sauce:

- Chop the garlic, onion and chillies finely
- Saute the garlic then add the chillies and the onion, fry until soft
- In the meantime crush the peanuts to a paste and put them into a food processor, add 8 crackers, add the sauted garlic, chillies and onion mix, 30 ml of whole milk and the parsley. Blend until smooth

Dip the fried cassava in the sauce and enjoy 🙂
 

 

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