Erika Pereyra is a relatively new member of the South Arm Community Kitchen. We were glad that she’s sharing some of her favourite Peruvian dishes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Erika shared with us that Peruvian cuisine has lots of influences from Spanish cuisine. One can also find a lot of Japanese and Chinese restaurants in Peru.
I bet you will never guess that Peruvian Cuisine has one of the most diverse in the world and is at the same level of cuisines of the Chinese, Indian, French and Spanish. Lima, the capital of Peru, is referred to as the “gastronomic capital of the Americas”.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBo6_0c1vcQ]
The video above on Peruvian Cuisine is a bit long but I find it interesting that the country of Peru is so rich in gastronomic heritage. Did you know too that Peru is home to about 2000 types of potatoes? Peru accounts for 40% of all potato varieties in the world.
The first dish which Erika shared with us is called Chicken in Aji Sauce (Aji De Gallina). Aji is a kind of pepper, also known as Peruvian hot pepper.
The above are two types of Aji pepper which Erika introduced to us, one in the form of paste while another is whole. Erika told us that we can find Peruvian groceries in Killarney Market at 49th Ave East Vancouver. For the Chicken in Aji Sauce, we used Aji paste.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2.2 lbs (1 kg) boiled potatoes
- 8 finely chopped cloves of garlic
- 2 onions, coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons (100g) ground aji amarillo fresco or 4 fresh yellow aji pepper
- 6 slices bread, soaked in approximately 3/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons (50g) chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons (50g) ground parmesan cheese
- 10 black olives, pitted
- 3 hardboiled eggs for garnishing
- 1/4 cup oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped parsley for garnishing
Instructions
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