Kukuli Restaurant
By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
A welcoming place with good energy, Kukuly Restaurant sits three blocks above the main plaza and offers not only a calm, inviting place, but good and inexpensive food. Kukuly blends an international flavor with local roots. Read the rest of this entry
San Blas’ Handicraft Fair
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
One Saturday I went to the ancient neighborhood of San Blas, known for its handicrafts. As I walked through its zigzagging streets I was enchanted with the colonial houses raised on Inca walls that are still visible. Its blue balconies shine from brightly colored geraniums in terracotta pots. Read the rest of this entry
Potato Flower
“La Flor de Papa” is a cheeky song considered folklore which is very widely known in Cuzco. Though ostensibly simple and flirtatious, as well as a tad arrogant as befits a certain masculinity, the song is worth a detailed look. Here it is in translation, followed by a small discussion.
Huaro Bread for Sale
By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
Cuzco consumes a lot of bread and that bread is still made artisanally and often in traditional ovens. There is not just one kind of bread in Cuzco, but a whole range. They are far more than food, they each have their distinctive taste and have, as a result, different uses according to the occasion. Read the rest of this entry
Huaca Señor de Tetecaca
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
On waking, I jumped from my bed, put on my running shoes and left. I wanted to run up the side of the highway that climbs out of the city of Cuzco to the archeological complex of Sacsayhuaman. But halfway there, my legs churning, I decided instead to race up what’s called the “Capac Ñan,” The old Inca highway. With every step I was struck by the beautiful green covering filled with ancient stones called “huacas”. They filled me with strong natural energy and gave me peace. Read the rest of this entry
Huachana Sandwich with French Fries and Soda
The Haucaypata, Cuzco, the main square where idols from all over the empire would be set in a coat of sand that covered the entire square while chicha was offered and other ritual performed, now offers a range of international fast food. But the first was Bembos with its Peruvian themed hamburgers. Read the rest of this entry
Potato From Cuzco
By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
The potato is the most important crop for Peruvian cuisine since it cannot be missing from almost any meal. It is also quite colorful, coming in a whole range of colors and varieties, some yellow, some white, some with dark lines, and others purple. Read the rest of this entry
Ceviche Mixto, Cuzco
Peruvian food has claimed more fans in the United States. Its promotors, such as celebrity chef Gastón Acurio, hold it can follow the path of Mexican food to claim a place in the palate and hearts of Americans. But on Monday the acclaimed North American writer and historian of Mexican food in the fifty states, Gustavo Arrellano, argued “Peruvian food won’t happen.” Let’s take a look at Arrellano’s stance. Read the rest of this entry
Quinoa
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
Though it has various spellings–quinoa, quinua, or kinwa– this seed is a grain that we in Cuzco have inherited from our ancestors which is claiming ever greater value in today’s world. Not only do we make from it a wonderful variety of food, we also find other uses and meanings. Read the rest of this entry
A Guitar in Song
Cuzco’s great poet Luis Nieto Miranda captured the emotive role of the guitar in the life of his people who he and others call cholos. It alone grasps and relays the sorrows that so often fill life around the corner from joy in the world between the indigenous and Spanish that is that of Cuzco’s “cholos”. Nieto writes directly and beautifully of the guitar and feeling in this poem that Cuzco Eats presents in translation. Read the rest of this entry
