A Bit on Peruvian Food

AJ is Peruvian and it was not until he introduced me to the cuisine of his fine country that I realized just how delicious Peruvian food is. I grew up in Minnesota so I was never introduced to exotic cuisines. Italian food was the usual in our house because we are Italian. Now, I can't get enough Peruvian food and I love eating at AJ's when his parents cook. When we first started dating, I was obsessed with the rice his mother makes. It's just regular white rice, but she uses the perfect amount of oil, salt, and garlic. I think she thought I was a little odd because for a while, all I wanted was rice!

So, AJ also introduced me to what is now one of my favorite restaurants, Fiesta Limeña, a Peruvian place near his house. The food is consistently delicious, the portions are almost too generous, and it's a nice, simple place that is no fuss and so easy to go to. A few years ago we were going too often and AJ had to impose a once-a-month rule on how often we could frequent Fiesta!

The food is the real deal, Peruvian food and I always have AJ order for me since the staff speaks Spanish. We always get anticuchos for our appetizer (beef hearts) and we either order a chaufa or lomo saltado for our entrees. Sometimes we'll get this drink called chicha morada that is made from purple corn!

There are three different Fiesta restaurants in Fairfield County, and I bought us a Groupon to one in Stamford. We went the other night and were so disappointed by the terrible service and waist staff that the moment we sat down, it was clear we will never again stray from our Fiesta restaurant.

But just to give you an idea of how delicious Peruvian food is and how big the servings are, here's a photo from our dinner the other night:

Huge, right?! AJ got the chaufa de mariscos, it's the Peruvian version of fried rice made with seafood. You can also order it with just shrimp, chicken, or beef. 

I got a dish I had never tried before called tallarines verdes because AJ's sister gets it all the time and loves it. It's the Peruvian version of pasta with pesto sauce but you can taste there's a difference between their pesto and Italian pesto. It was so tasty! And it also came with a huge portion of pepper steak which I had to share with AJ. I didn't finish all of my pasta either so I left it in the fridge at AJ's house—hopefully his sister will find it and eat it!

And because I can't resist, this is AJ's 'don't take a photo of me' face. Dinner was a disaster but the food was perfect and that is what matters the most. Also, we were both able to laugh off the ridiculousness of the experience and have fun anyway and I'm so glad we could do that. 

Plus! We also ended up ordering dessert which we never do at our Fiesta. We got a big slice of flan and an alfajor, which I still can't say correctly. 

Because Peruvian food is so delicious and there are so many different types of dishes—all of which I have loved so far—I'm sure I'll be posting about it many more times to share all of the interesting, yummy foods from AJ's home country!