Platos tipicos

So this is the eating portion of our fiesta. It's actually a competition to see who can make the best dish. So the Peruvians come out just to show off their finest. I don't know if you can tell by the first photo, but there is actually a line of food, about 30 plates in total.

And let see if you can guess who was one of the judges of this fine event...ME!!!! (He he. See previous blogs about my bad ass celebrity status. Um hmm...) Yep, that's right, little ol' me who knows nothing about traditional Peruvian food but I've watched enough Food Network to make my way down the line and grill the Peruvian women about their dishes. Despite almost busting a seam in my pants afterwards, you'll be happy to know that I tried out every single dish.

Unfortunately, typical dishes in Peru usually consists of cuy...like a mountain of it. I must have tried out almost 15 different types of cuy dishes. This was bad for the girl who had so far refrained from eating cuy because she just couldn't stand the thought of eating their cute little furry selves. But yet here I was. Photo 4 is an example of the type of cuy that I ate. (Ugh...shudder) and, then afterwards in Peruvian custom, you're supposed to wash your cuy down with this homemade liquor of chicha (picture 3) made of fermented spit. (Yep, I did that, too, for quite a few cups...an afternoon of guinea pig eating and getting drunk off homemade liquor.) There actually was a group of audience on the stands who were watching us throughout this whole thing so I didn't want to offend by refusing Peruvian formalities.

Anyways, picture 2 was eventually the winner. She made this fried cuy dish that was seasoned just perfectly and, see, I'm actually eating it! But after this, I think no more cuy for quite a while. Afterwards, I walked by the cuy cages and, with my full belly, just couldn't look those little guys in the eyes.