Peruvian Ceviche
(Raw fish in lime juice)
Ceviche is becoming very popular in many countries and the US. You will find a wide variety of fancy ceviches served in restaurants. However, there is nothing like the authentic, basic Peruvian ceviche. Once you try the basic ceviche, you can experiment variations on your own.
Basic Ceviche: Cut some white fish fillets into byte size pieces. Most white fish will work, just ensure it is very clean, fresh and has no skin, dark meat or bones (frozen fish becomes to soft and has very little taste). Chilean sea bass (the best), sole and flounder work well (if the fish is good for Sushi, it is good for Ceviche). Squeeze several limes into a big bowl (1/2 limes and 1/2 lemons works well too). You will need a lot of lime juice, enough for the fish to soak in. Add salt and pepper to the lime juice until it has a nice salty and peppery flavor (make it a little saltier than you normally like since some of this salt will be absorbed by the fish). Place the fish in lime juice and mix thoroughly. Let it sit and marinade for about an hour, then re-mix. Do this one or two more times until the fish meat is totally white (this means that the fish has fully marinated). Before you serve, cut one or two red onions into thin slices (circles or half-circles) and a little parsley or cilantro and mix them with the fish. Serve with lettuce, sliced corn on the cobb, boiled or fried yuca, and/or boiled sliced potatoes or yams. Note: in Peru the ceviche is served pretty raw. If you like it this way marinade the fish in the lime juice no more than 30 minutes.
Variations: (1) Mix with other seafood (note, some seafood like shrimp and squid has to be cooked first; other seafood like scalops and clams don't need to be cooked; if you would not eat it raw, then cook it); (2) Mushroom vegetarian ceviche: replace fish with mushrooms, use less lime juice and add some vegetable oil; (3) Try mixing fruit juices with lime juice, orange juice works well; (4) Try mixing in other vegetables or fruit (e.g., cucumber chunks, celery, mango, pinneaples, etc.).
Tiradito: This is the new ceviche. It is prepared like ceviche, except that the fish is cut in very thin slices and then marinaded for only 5 minutes or so and served without onions, just the plain fish. There are several versions of tiradito. The simplest form is plain fish marinaded in lime juice, but other versions have things like a hot pepper sauce or olive oil on top. You can be as creative as you wish with tiradito.
Goes well with chilled white wine. I have it with good beer. Enjoy!
Causa
(Potatoe Doe)
In Spanish, cause means "cause", but this name comes from the native dialect Quechua, not Spanish, so I am not sure what the name means. Boil potatoes and mash them as if you were making mashed potatoes, but don't use any milk or butter, just the potatoes. Let it sit until it cools down. Then add salt and pepper to taste, and squeeze in one or two limes until the doe has a nice lemony taste. Once you like the taste of the doe, then add some vegetable oil, not much, just enough to make the doe hold. It should look smooth and consistent. You can now serve this doe by rolling little balls (served as hors'deurves with a tooth pick and dip sauce), or making a bigger ball (or football shape), as an appetizer with some lettuce, slice of hard boiled egg and a pitted olive. However, the best way to eat this is stuffed. Use anything you like to stuff it: tuna fish salad; egg salad; chicken salad; boiled vegetables with a little mayonnaise; my favorite: a mix of corn, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and avocado with mayonnaise. How to stuff it? A number of ways: (1) inter mix layers of doe and stuffing in a dish; (2) make a ball with the doe, then make a big dent on it and place the stuffing there; (3) my favorite: put a layer of doe in wax paper, place stuffing ingredients on top, one at a time, one next to each other in lines, put a thin layer of mayonnaise on top, then fold and roll the doe over the stuffing, then cut the rolled doe into slices, the stuffing will look like a spiral in each slice, and depending on how you arrange the ingredients it can be quite colorful. This is a great and cool appetizer for the summer time.
Enjoy!!
Pisco Sour
(Peruvian Cocktail)
This cocktail is similar to a Mexican Margarita, but a bit stronger. First, you need to find Peruvian Pisco. Pisco is a hard liquor made from grapes. It is similar to Italian Grappa, but Grappa is made from the residue leftover after making wine, whereas Pisco is distilled from pure grapes. If you were to distill pure wine several times you would get Pisco. Currently, Peru is producing highly refined pisco that is fermented from pure grapes. Some Pisco's are made for sipping, not Pisco Sours, and can cost upwards of $60 for a 1/2 litter bottle (in Peru). But a pisco like this will be made from approximately 45 pounds of grapes for one litter. To wonder it is expensive. It would be a waste to use highly refined pisco for Pisco Sours. Less expensive Pisco's like Montesierpe would be perfectly fine for Pisco Sours. Also, Pisco comes in many varieties (Mosto Verde, Italia, Moscatel, Acholado, Puro, etc.). The best Pisco for Pisco Sours is Pisco Puro (pure pisco), which is the strongest (this would not be as good for sipping -- Mosto Verde is the best for sipping in my opinion).
Many people think Pisco is from Chile, but it actually originated in the Pisco province of the department of Ica in Peru, which is a region with great production of grapes. While Chile is producing acceptable Pisco, you will find a greater and better tasting variety of Piscos in Peru. Piscos range from very strong (Pisco puro) to very mild (Pisco Italia), depending on the grape used and the distillation process. Mild Pisco is great for drinking straight or with juices or sodas. The best Pisco for Pisco Sour is the stronger Pisco (Pisco puro or pure Pisco).
To make Pisco Sour, follow the 1-2-3-4 recipe below, but alter the proportions to your taste. Place in blender:
1 Part lime juice
2 Parts sugar (try 1 part of sugar first and see if it is sweet enough for your
taste)
3 Parts pisco
4 Parts
ice (for stronger pisco sours, try 3 parts of ice only)
Note, you can use Minute Maid frozen lemonade concentrate instead of the lime juice and sugar. Experiment with the proportions. However, there is nothing like freshly squeezed limes for Pisco Sours.
After blending the ingredients, throw in an egg white in the blended mix and blend again for another 30 seconds or a minute. The egg white will give the blend a whitish foamy consistency. Please ensure that the blender is only half full when you do this, otherwise when the mix starts foaming it will spill over. Serve this foamy mix in small brandy or cocktail glasses and let it sit for a minute or so. The foam will rise to the top and it will look pretty cool. Sprinkle two drops of Angostura Bitters on top. The Bitters gives it a nice color and a unique taste. Many people think that the brown spots from the Bitters are actually cinammon. The original Pisco Sour does not have Cinammon, but Angostura Bitters. However, if you don't have Bitters, cinnamon tastes good to, so just sprinkle a little cinnamon for color on top.
Note: some people like to use "jarabe de goma" (goma syrup) instead of egg whites and sugar. Personally, I prefer the taste of the original recipe that uses egg whites and plain sugar.
Salud!!
Cheers!! But please don't drive after you drink this and drink responsibly!! One
or two Pisco Sours should be your limit.