So, my dad has requested I post a picture of the food I raved about.  It’s a good thing my traveling companion likes to take pictures of the food we’re about to eat (and in some cases, the food we’ve half-eaten).  And man, did Peru have great food!  So, here you go, Dad!

[Edit: For more pictures of our delicious Peruvian food, go to my new post here: More Peruvian Food.]

First, we have one example of the amazing feats of cooking that went on on our hiking adventure.  The second to last (I think) morning with the cooks, we woke up to this, an actual cake that they baked with camping cooking equipment.  No oven, just pans or whatever you bring camping.  Not sure why it has a star, but it added a nice touch:

The food we ate on our trek was nothing less than amazing, from the fried trout the first day to the fresh avocado the last.  Those guys from the Salkantay Trek were incredible chefs and worth every penny we paid, truly.  If you want me to rave some more (especially about our guide Joelle, who even got us a new hotel the last night when the school next door to ours was having an all-night dance/bingo night), please leave something in the comments or message me directly.

Second, this post would not be complete without the most expensive meal we had in Cuzco.  That meal being $20 a person for a main dish and shared appetizer.  Anyway, it was at Chicha, Gaston Acurio’s restaurant in Cuzco.  This chef is no small potatoes: he is the only chef in Peru to have a Michelin star.  Anyway, below you’ll find my meal of various meats and potatoes.  Tom compared it to Fogo de Chao, but I can’t say anything about that because I’ve never been.  So, I’ll just say that it was delicious.

Because what we do on vacation is eat, me and Tom had to find the best breakfast place the first day and basically never go anywhere else.  This was a place called Cicciolinia’s (Calle Triunfo 393), where me and Tom had the most delicious meals for practically nothing.  This is the day I got what was more or less the full breakfast: sausage, smoked trout, cream cheese, guacamole, potatoes, an amazing baked tomato, and fresh warm breads.  So, this is me at breakfast:

I apologize for this last one, but there’s no other way to end this post except with Tom making an exhausted smile at the airport on our way back.  His expression has nothing to do with the quality of the food in front of him, which was absolutely delicious.  If anything, he’s probably impatiently waiting for me to take the picture so he can start eating.  Anyway, what you see below is called Sopa a la Criolla (which I heard about from this site).

There were so many other meals I would have included except we were so quick to eat them that we didn’t get any pictures.  But I will make a plug for Kukuly (at Huaynapata 318), a restaurant run by a Swiss ex-pat who has an amazing lunch and dinner special every day for about $2 (soup and a main dish).  It’s a little hard to find, especially when it’s dark at night, but believe me, it’s worth the trek.  When looking at the church in the main square, go to the street immediately to the left, take an immediate left at this tiny park, then turn right when the street ends, it should be a block or two up on the right.

Well, that’s it for the food.  Check back next post!