Waffle with Carop Syrup

By Walter Coraza Morveli and Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)

This restaurant is located on the narrow and steep Cuesta San Blas street, near its beginning, on the second floor of a colonial house. It is easy to recognize because above the door is an image of a cow along with the name Granja Heidi (Heidi’s Farm). It is a place like everyone hopes for, tranquil and welcoming. Read the rest of this entry

Three Natural Flavors of Yoghurt

By Hebert Edgardo Humani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)

Mornings in Cuzco yoghurt seems everywhere. On restaurant menus it is offered either alone or with fruit salad and muesli. And, women appear on the streets offering homemade yoghurt with fruit salad for some tourists and the people who work in the tourist sector. Read the rest of this entry

Procuradores by Night

By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)

Just a step or two off the Plaza de Armas we find Procuradores Street. It is filled with color from the many different businesses that fill its narrow length and the people who walk up and down it. Procuradores is one of Cuzco’s important streets and well worth a visit. Read the rest of this entry

Rose Shining in a Bright Dry-Season Sky

It has been dry in Cuzco for months now. Though clouds occasionally cross the sky and sometimes gather, there has been almost no rain. The landscape is at the height of brown. Read the rest of this entry

Naturlandia in San Blas

By Walter Coraza Morveli and Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)

A small, welcoming place, less than a block from the popular Plaza de San Blas, Naturlandia (Carmen Alto 146) opened to provide people with quickly prepared vegetarian food made from the natural products of the region of Cuzco. Besides food, it also has a mission to teach people the benefits of vegetarian living. Its motto seems to be with gusto and life for all. Read the rest of this entry

Table with a View in Cuzco

Restaurants abound in Cuzco’s colonial core. Hardly a street exists without them. There are hundreds of them with a wide diversity of options for travelers and locals, from elegant establishments to what in Peruvian parlance are called guariques, or in English holes-in-the wall. Since we began Cuzco Eats a year and a half ago we have written about Cuzco’s restaurants, among other things, in both reviews and notes. We bring them all together here in a list with links.

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Duck Ceviche

By David Knowlton

After a hard day of work, his brow showing a faint shine from nerves, Chef Alberto Coraza Taco set the first of his plates on a white lace cloth in a restaurant that will soon open, called El Ají Panca. This was the iron test. Although very young, he had designed the menu of creole dishes to fit both the desires of the restaurant’s owners and his own exacting requirements. This evening, a few invited guests would get to try his efforts and give him feedback. Read the rest of this entry

Plaza de Regocijo

By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)

The city of Cuzco claims a wide variety of restaurants. They offer a diversity of food and in the last years have been innovating and improving the quality of their services. Many of them are not only work to improve the quality of their food but also to modernize their infrastructure and improve their location and the quality of the personnel with whom they work. Read the rest of this entry

Tamales Josefina, Cuzco

By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara
Translated by David Knowlton

Not only the millennial cradle of the Inca Empire and the imposing Machu Picchu, Cuzco also gave birth to the delicious tamales of Doña Josefina Ramírez Olivares.

Sold for decades under the Portal de Belen, on the Plaza de Armas, the tamales of Doña Josefina and her descendants have fed millions and have become a recognized and award winning Cuzco institution, even though the stand is so humble most tourists would never know.

But they should not pass up the amazing tamales. They are worth a stop. Read the rest of this entry

By Walter Coraza M.

Translation by David Knowlton

Ceviche from Rio Mar, Cuzco

Exotic, exquisite, and yet sharp; that is how many describe ceviche.   But that is only one way. The dish has given much to talk about since it has been able to conquer even the most demanding palates of the whole world.  As a consequence it has been the subject of various books, and is spreading quickly throughout the globe.

To think of ceviche is to think about Peru. This dish of fish marinated in lime juice, in various inventive and fascinating forms as well as in its most basic and traditional way, has become the most famous food of contemporary Peru at the same time it enfolds in his creation and eating much of Peruvian cultural history. Read the rest of this entry