Loading ...The Arabic Influence in the Gastronomy of Peru
SOURCE: GULF TIMES
BY: JOSE BENZAQUEN/AMBASSADOR OF PERU
Peruvian cuisine reflects the country’s history with a variety that is unique in the world. If we Peruvians have something to be grateful for in our culinary world, it would be the significant influence that the Arab culture that was integrated through the migration of Europeans from the lands of the Iberian Peninsula, the Al Andaluz, where the Arab presence was approximately 800 years with an important Caliphate established in Cordova.
The introduction of the two worlds of different cultures helped shaped the wealth of a land called Peru — known for its cultural diversity with an exquisite and tremendously varied gastronomy. As mentioned in our previous article on the Arab presence in Peru, confirmed Arab manifestations in many aspects and obviously in our cuisine.
Many typical Peruvian dishes can be easily recognised by its unique Arab touch, especially in the current variety of desserts where honey nougat, rice pudding (Roz b Halib) and Peruvian picarones are accompanied by dried fruits, sugar cane, from syrup (sugar dissolved in water) as well as many products that we can taste with some familiarity in the meals that are offered in many restaurants in Doha.
According to a study on the culinary cuisine of Peru, some of the Peruvian main dishes such as “aji de gallina” have a significant Arab influence. Many products and ingredients have also been introduced to our culinary cuisine such as lemons, mulberry, almond, quince, dates and artichokes as well as a variety of spices. In the 18th century, avocado dishes were infused with Arabic ingredients such as oregano, ginger, coriander, and saffron among others.
In addition, the Machawis or what is also known as Shish Kababs is similar to the so-called Anticuchos, a dish known for its popularity and variety of spices cooked closely the same way as seen in the Middle East.
Regarding Peruvian gastronomy, in the past few decades, the Peruvian gastronomy has been awarded as the world´s leading culinary cuisines. The popularity of the Peruvian cuisine continues to grow worldwide, producing one of the most precious cultural fusions in the contemporary world of gastronomy. The heritage of the ancient inhabitants of Peru does not only reside in its wonderful buildings and ruins but it is also been seen in their diet as a result of this great territory that inherited from the different cultures before the establishment of the Inca empire, cradle of the great Inca civilisation in South America, as recognised by the great British historian Arnold Toynbee in his monumental work A Study of History in 1934.
Peru, with an extensive territory of 1,285,216,60sq km, offers 90 microclimates conducive to having different types of foods and native products with about 20,000 types of plants due to its mixture of cuisines brought by immigrants from Europe (Spanish cuisine, Italian cuisine, German cuisine); Asia (Chinese and Japanese cuisines); and the African cuisine. Peru is considered one of the leading exporting countries of fish and fishery products worldwide, making its gastronomy rich and diversified.
The Inca Empire knew how to domesticate many food products such as the aforementioned potato, sweet potato, quinoa, and legumes. Fish, shellfish, carapulca (dried potato), charqui (dried meat) were added and cooked in clay pots and on the ground with red-hot stones — known as pachamancas — a unique form of slow-cooking in an underground pit that Arabs introduced to the rest of the world (Zarb).
The biodiversity of its resources seems infinite. The food from the Peruvian Amazon not only entices with its exotic dishes, but also attracts travellers with its great variety of delicacies such as beef, poultry, fish, and mutton. Typical Amazonian dishes consist of dishes like ´Juane´ (rice with egg and chicken on a Bijao leaf that gives it a special flavour, Patarashca (grilled fish with bijao leaf), Tacacho with cecina (green banana and meat cesa), Inchicapi (peanut soup that was cultivated by Peruvians 6,494 years BC, in the Cajamarca Region, as well as exotic oriental fruit drinks.
On the other hand, both the Chinese and the Japanese influence enriched the Peruvian cuisine with the influence of seafood thanks to the generosity of the Pacific Ocean that bathes our coasts.
By the twentieth century, an international recognition of the Peruvian cuisine saw the light, thanks to many chefs throughout our country, including those who studied in the most prestigious schools in Europe; realising the uniqueness of tastes and diversified flavours that each Peruvian dish consists off, displaying it with a touch of their own work and art.
In 2006, Lima was declared the gastronomic capital of America, and since 2021 it has won the qualification of the best gastronomic destination seven times in a row, surpassing other world gastronomies. Lima’s cuisine has undoubtedly earned it an excellent and well-deserved position as one of the top food capitals in the world. In addition to hosting the most important food fair in Latin America, its culinary variety delights locals and visitors alike. With its iconic dishes, ceviche and tiradito, Lima is a prime destination for those who love good cuisine.
Undoubtedly our flagship dish is Ceviche, presented in different forms and styles. It is considered a source of national pride with its classic ingredients: fish meat, with lemon, salt and chilli.
Currently, we have three restaurants in Lima considered to be the most famous in the world. An aspect that deserves to be highlighted is that the kitchen constitutes a binding element with many aspects of human activities, such as: its identification related to a series of activities including agriculture, commerce, marketing, well-being, nutrition and trade among the different countries. Food is not only a way of eating but it is also a symbol of hospitality, an attraction that brings people together, and a key element that facilitates the introduction of different cultures.
We would have to elaborate even more to refer to our Peruvian gastronomy, so we have not tried to exhaust the subject, only to give you a vision of this vast Peruvian cultural expression.
Finally, I would like to extend an invitation to all nations to experience what truly is the taste of the Peruvian gastronomy and the country’s history and its uniqueness in taste and flavour of the Peruvian hospitality.