Mind the GAP

I like to think that I’m a “glass is half-full” person. But that optimism goes hand-in-hand with having high expectations…of myself and others…especially when I’m paying a lot of money for something. This brings me to a final thought about our trip to Peru.

People ask 3 “organizing” questions of us after our return from Peru:

Q: Did you organize it yourself or did you go with a group?

A: A group. For most of our trips, we organize it ourselves. We love the freedom of setting our own schedule. But for trips with complicated logistics, especially in developing countries, travelling with a reputable tour company is the way to go.

Q: What tour company did you go with?

A: GAP.

Q: Would you recommend them?

A: No.

GAP stands for Great Adventure People. It built what seems to be a good reputation (we asked around) on organizing trips throughout the developing world for the “backpacking & hostel” segment. In more recent years, GAP has expanded beyond its original customer base to offer trips in what GAP calls the “comfort” category. Now, “comfort” is defined by GAP as “maintaining the comforts you are used to at home” and GAP’s examples are such things as air conditioned rooms, hot water, and air-conditioned tourist buses.

On our trip, GAP fell far short of their standards, our expectations, and in comparison to another Canadian tour company with which we travelled the last time we went to South America: Adventures Abroad. The shortcomings? I’ll mention just a few.

We had small, cramped vans, not buses, for travelling around the country. (Imagine being six foot tall and spending 11 hours one day in a van built for 5-foot, 5-inch Peruvians.) Two hotels lacked hot water. Part of the responsibilities of a tour guide is to keep his group away from highway rest-stops and restaurants where sanitary standards are lacking. All fifteen members of the group were violently ill at one point or another and many required the treatment of a physician. Inevitably, there were many jokes about why they named this company “GAP”.

The kicker? In such situations, what matters is not only what happens during a trip but also how a company responds, after the trip is over, when they know that their customers are dissatisfied. GAP encourages its customers to complete a tour evaluation. And so we did. We told them what went right (yes, some things were outstanding), and we told them what went wrong…seriously wrong.

Did we hear back from GAP? An acknowledgment? A thank you? A commitment to fix what went wrong? Not a peep. And that, dear reader, tells you all you need to know about GAP.

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La Bovedas

After driving south from Chiclayo to Trujillo, dinner is at La Bovedas, located in the Hotel Libertador.







We start with a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, matched to my Halibut cebiche, with manioc (yucca), corn, sweet potato with some leche de tigre on the side.  Michèle takes a salad of green asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms, and spinach with bell pepper vinaigrette.

For the main course, Michèle takes the Grilled Halibut, Sautéed Vegetables with Tarragon and Cumin, in an Asparagus Soup. (She loves her asparagus! And Peru is the world’s leading exporter, so why not enjoy it as fresh as it is here?)

My choice is North Shore Grouper Fillet, Sautéed Parsley, and Stir-Fried Potatoes. It’s all brilliant!

My choice for a matching wine is La Linda Viognier 2008 (from Leoncio Arizu), Mendoza (Argentina) 14.5% ABV. Deep yellow colour, aromas of apricot, pineapple, almond, sweet spice and floral notes. The apricot flavour dominates on the palate. Medium acidity, it’s round at first but with a bite of crisp acidity on the finish, along with some bitterness. Interesting change through the palate! It matches up well with both dishes.

Dessert for me is Tres Leches (this time the 3 “milks” are coffee cream, Baileys, and condensed milk) …Almond bavarois with amaretto, caramel, and orange sauce with Cointreau for Michèle.

Definitely the place to be in Trujillo. In fact, we liked it so much we went back two days later for lunch, just before heading back to Lima and home.

Michèle’s appetizer was Spicy Shrimp and Corvina with (wait for it) Green Asparagus and Potatoes. My choice is North Pacific Salmon in a Ginger Sesame Sauce.  Both dishes reflect the Asian influences in Peruvian cuisine.  Superb.

For the main course, I take a classic regional dish: Cabrito con Tacu Tacu (baby goat with grilled rice and beans) and Michèle orders the Alpaca Filet Mignon on a bed of vegetables. Delicious.

Our final Peruvian wine: You guessed it…Tacama Seleccion Especial 2008, Ica Valley, 14% ABV. A blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot. We tried the 2009 earlier in the trip. Consistent aromas and flavours of red and black fruits, anise, and black pepper. I found the 2009 to have some grippy tannins but with an extra year of aging, the 2008 is softer and better integrated with the fruit on the finish.

A wonderful way to while away an afternoon and finish our wine and food adventures in Peru.  If this is the world's emerging style of fine cuisine, count me in!

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Big Ben

Flying north from Lima, we spent a couple of days in Chiclayo, visiting the ruins at Sipan, where we began to learn about one of the most fascinating pre-Incan civilizations: the Moche. Not much to say about the cuisine in Chiclayo. Most remarkable was our dinner at Neuva Nueva Venecia, a very busy pizzeria about halfway between our hotel and the Plaza de Armas. Great, thin-crust pizza. A half-litre of a good red wine for $2!

From Chiclayo, we motored south to Trujillo, the 3rd largest city in Peru. Here the main attractions are from the Chimu civilization: the Huaca de la Luna and the ruins of Chan Chan, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America. We’re getting a much greater appreciation for the size and sophistication of these civilizations. The Europeans didn’t bring civilization to the Americas, they brought a different civilization to the Americas…and not an entirely better one.

At midday, we drive out to Huanchaco, right on the Pacific, for lunch at Big Ben. Although it has some interesting specialities, for lunch all we need is something simple and fresh.

My choice is grilled Corvina with fries. Michèle takes a grilled Corvina with mushrooms and white asparagus in a garlic sauce. Freshly caught that morning, the fish is Mmm...Mmm...good.

And the perfect accompaniment is the local beer, Pilsen Trujillo. Light yellow colour, crisp, not the best pilsner I’ve ever tasted but sometimes sentiment wins out over flavour!  Served with a bowl of the addictive cancha (roasted corn).

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La Trattoria di Mambrino

Back to Miraflores, for a day, before we head up to northern Peru, off the beaten track for tourists! After my gastro misadventure, it’s good to have my appetite back, although slow and easy does it. 

Miraflores is part of metropolitan Lima and reflects the many cultural influences that make Lima a cosmopolitan city, and a culinary delight. For lunch, we head to Wa Lok, a “chifa”, what Peruvians call a Chinese restaurant. It’s a Sunday, a day when many Peruvian families get together for lunch. The restaurant is full when we arrive at 1:30, but the turnover is fast and there’s no trouble getting a table. It’s a very typical Chinese restaurant: the service is quick, if impersonal, and the food is great. Highly recommended.

For dinner, it’s time for some comfort food…pasta at La Trattoria di Mambrino, just a short walk from our hotel.

My choice is Tagliatelle with a Veal Porcini Ragu. Delicious, the sauce just coats the pasta and the mushroom favour really comes through.

Michèle takes Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus. They go easy on the cream, so what can sometimes be a heavy, rich dish is unexpectedly lighter, and tasty. And with fresh Peruvian asparagus, it’s a real treat.

The winelist carries an Argentinean Merlot at a reasonable price, so I order that. I guess I found a popular choice, because there’s none left. The sommelier brings another Argentinean Merlot, asking if we’d to have this one instead. Now, I’m a quick study with restaurant winelists. So I remember that this new one is about $40 more expensive. I also remember that there’s a Chilean Merlot. It's about the same price as the Argentinean one I wanted.

OK, this guy didn’t go to the same sommelier school that I did. First, you know your inventory well enough to know when you’re out of something, and tell the client right away when he makes his order. Failing that, then second, you don’t come back with another bottle, you come back with the winelist, allowing the client to choose something from the full list. Failing that, then third, you don’t come back with a much more expensive bottle, you come back with something in the same price range. But hey, we’re tourists, so you have to keep your head up!

We order the Cousino-Macul Antiguas Reservas Merlot 2008, Maipo Valley, Chile; 14% ABV. Aromas of blackberry and blueberry, sweet spices (vanilla); the dark fruits coming through again on the palate. Medium acidity and tannins, perhaps a bit young, it’s not quite full-bodied. Great with the food! Merlot is my favourite “International Varietal” to match with many pasta dishes.

Time for dessert. Michèle takes Queso Helado, which we first tried in Arequipa. Smooth and good.

My choice is Tres Leches, a cake soaked in 3 kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. The cake itself is light, and soaks up just enough liquid without falling apart. It some ways it’s the South American version of tiramisu. Mmmmm…definitely comfort food.




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Mangez des Cuy!

Leaving Aguas Calientes, the same (or similar) illness that knocked down every other person in our group finally knocked me down...and out. Food poisoning? Bad water? Norwalk virus? You never know. Your gastrointestinal tract declares war. Taken prisoner are your appetite, along with your will to do anything but sleep. Rash promises are made. Luckily, we’re now back in Cusco and it’s not a travel day. I can sleep most of the day away. Then, gradually, terms of an armistice are worked out. Make reparations. Take drugs. Pour electrolytes down your throat. Fortunately, every restaurant along the Peruvian tourist trail offers “Chicken Diet Soup”, the gateway back to solid foods.

But it’s here in Cusco that we planned to try a traditional Peruvian specialty: “cuy”…or guinea pig. Low in fat and high in protein, guinea pigs have been part of the Andean diet for centuries. There’s even a painting of the Last Supper in the Cusco cathedral with Jesus and the apostles dining on “cuy”. Can’t miss out.

Off we go to a nearby restaurant for a dinner of guinea pig. Some restaurants let you choose which live guinea pig you want to have (like choosing a lobster from a tank), but not here. Our guinea pig, roasted, comes out of the kitchen with a pepper in its mouth, surrounded by roast potatoes, raw vegetables (oh no!), and a ball of mashed sweet potato.

What does it taste like? I guess the closest comparison is rabbit, but gamier. Certainly chewy. Unfortunately, the taste of roasted garlic overwhelms it. Back to the chicken soup!

A note of caution. The word for guinea pig in Peru is “cuy”. Sounds very much like a French slang word, couille. So, if you tell your francophone friends about your adventures in Peru, eating “cuy”, you may want to be clear about what that is.

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Indio Feliz - After Machu Picchu

A word about Machu Picchu. It’s often listed as one of the most impressive places on the face of the earth. But there are very, very, very few places that exceed a reputation like that. The Grand Canyon is one. The scale of the canyon is beyond description. Machu Picchu is another. Now, we were very lucky: we had a spectacularly clear blue sky first thing in the morning, which is a rarity. And it poured rain the night before! Pachamama was with us. The site, the structures, the view, all beyond my descriptive powers. Go. See it.

After coming down from Machu Picchu, we decided to go back to Indio Feliz for lunch. Hey, when it’s one of the best in Peru, and nothing else in Aguas Calientes comes close, what would you do? This time, we get a table in the upstairs dining room. It's more brightly lit, with natural light, and more spacious than the downstairs dining room next to the bar. (Hint: If you want a nicer table, speak French to the owner. The only other clients having lunch in the upstairs dining room were from France.)

For this return trip to Indio Feliz, we went with the Prix Fixe menu. Both Michèle and I start with Avocado and Mango Balls with Olive Oil and Lemon juice. The avocados here are HUGE, almost the size of a football…and delicious.

For the main, Michèle opts for Urubamba Salmon-Trout “a lo macho” (tomatoes, onion, pepper, and white wine). Same sides as the day before. Hey, when you're running a restaurant in a tourist town, where the clientele changes quickly, you don't need to mess with the formula.

My choice is also Salmon Trout, with mangoes from Quillabamba. It looked so good the day before that I had to try it. And I wasn’t disappointed. Fresh trout and (more) fresh mangoes. Wow, superb!

No beer today! For the wine, we choose a Lazo Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Central Valley, Chile. Citrus and tropical fruit (mango!) aromas and flavours, with just a note of grassy herbaceousness. Medium-bodied with great crisp acidity to balance out the fruit on the finish. A superb match to the avocado and mango appetizer and both of the salmon-trout dishes.

For dessert, it’s orange (!) pie with crème anglaise and coconut ice cream. Hmmm.

Go to Machu Picchu. Eat at Indio Feliz. One is a wonder; the other is just wonderful.




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Indio Feliz - Before Machu Picchu

Before heading up to Machu Picchu, we spend the day in Aguas Calientes, just 9 kilometres away (and 400 metres lower). Unless you’re staying at the ritzy Sanctuary Lodge (USD 825 a night) or you’re doing the 4-day hike along the Inka Trail, then Aguas Calientes is the obligatory “base camp” before the ascent to Machu Picchu at sunrise.

Aguas Calientes is a lively town completely devoted to tourism, even over-devoted in that it’s lost any sense of identity beyond tourism. Think Niagara Falls.  On the principal streets leading away from the train station are restaurants, coffee bars, and massage parlours, each with someone standing outside, very persistently inviting you in.  That is, except for one restaurant, tucked down a narrow side street, called Indio Feliz (Happy Indian). Our guidebook says that it’s “the best restaurant in Aguas Calientes…one of Peru’s best restaurants”. Well, OK then, let’s head there for lunch.

Indio Feliz serves what they call Franco-Peruvian cuisine, not surprising, as the owners are a couple, he’s from France, and she’s from Peru. Decorated in funky ochre and green, the restaurant is on 3 floors, with an expansion built in 2008, a testament to its success. (Check out a video here) We take a seat on the ground floor, in a dining room adjoining the bar.

Lots of interesting choices on the menu too. The prix fixe is a great bargain, but we’re not so hungry that we need a 3-course meal. I opt for “Chicken with a Pepper-Pisco Sauce” with side dishes of homemade garlic potato chips, steamed vegetables, and rice. Tender chicken, cooked properly; the reduced chicken-stock-based pepper-Pisco sauce was delicious. With that, I had a quart-sized Cusqueña beer. Ah, a quart of beer. Like being back in university. But the food was never this good!

Michéle takes the "Chicken with Ginger Confit and a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce” with the same side dishes.

Two other members of our group – Alex and Minh – wander in and join us for lunch. Minh chooses the Salmon Trout – fresh from the local Urubamba River – with mangoes from Quillabamba and the standard side dishes.

Alex goes vegetarian, taking the Tagliatelle, served au natural, but with a variety of different sauces that you can mix and match to your own taste.

You know how some restaurants have a bowl at reception where you can toss in your business card? Well, Indio Feliz has a large wall where you can staple your business card. And so, if you ever get to Aguas Calientes and have a meal at Indio Feliz, look for the card from Dave’s Domaine.

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Urubamba

Before heading up the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu, we overnight in Urubamba at the San Augustin Hotel. After some dodgy accommodation in Puerto Inca and Cusco (hot water?  you like hot water for your shower?), this place is a step up. The architecture reflects the look and feel of the colonial estate it once was, with attractive landscaping.

Where to have dinner is an easy choice, as Urubamba (which means “Land of Spiders” in Quechuan) is a small town and it caters more to the lunch crowd. So, the hotel restaurant it is.

Michèle is finally feeling better after a very nasty case of some gastro-disease. Food poisoning? Norwalk virus? The "whatever it is" has knocked down two-thirds of our group already, almost all of whom needed the attention of a local doctor. And we’re not done with it yet. It’s not a healthy place.

But after a rather large buffet lunch, we go easy at dinner. Michèle’s choice is Quinoa Ravioli with a Cream and Cheese Sauce.  If you don't know it, quinoa is an amazing grain that's good and good for you.  It's native to Peru, where they've grown it for thousands of years.

My choice is Trout with Almond Curry Sauce, Rice, Potatoes – it’s not unusual to get both rice and potatoes – and cooked vegetables.  You can find both farmed and wild trout in many Peruvian rivers and lakes (including Titicaca) but it's not native.  Peruvians introduced trout from...Canada (!) as a source of protein.  Good, eh? 

The wine? We’re back to Tacama Blanco de Blancos – this time from 2009. As with the 2010, it’s a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay; 13.5% ABV. Pale straw colour, floral and citrus aromas. Flavours of lemon, lime, white peach, and bitter almond at the finish. Medium acidity, it starts with some roundness but then the acidity kicks in at the end. The bitterness on the finish makes it a good match with the food.

Of course, there’s the obligatory pan flute ensemble that we’ve come to expect in every restaurant, every lunch, every dinner. Play a few tunes (we may never be able to listen to El Condor Pasa again), sell a few CDs, pass the hat, good night! In between sets, every restaurant plays music ranging from the 1950s to the early 1990s. For Peruvians, new music seems to have ceased around 1990. When I ask them why, the answer is always in the same perplexed tone, “Tell me, has there been any good music since 1990?”  Hmmm…

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Chicha!

North of Cuzco, as we head into the Sacred Valley of the Inka, we arrive at the ruins at Pisac.  The Inka were masters at terraced agriculture.  Maybe it's just my wine-soaked brain but these terraces, reminiscent of the Douro, make me think that there's good wine growing potential.  Alas, it's a national reserve, so they'll be no viticulture here!

Every so often, along the road from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo, you’ll see a house with a bamboo pole poking out into the street. At the end of the bamboo pole is tied a red plastic bag. The red bag (or, really, anything red at the end of the pole) means that the “chicha” is ready.

Chicha is a generic term for a homemade beverage made (usually) from corn. It’s often fermented – but not always, as I found out later to my disappointment – to yield an ABV of just 3%. It’s somewhat like the word “beer” in English. Beer is usually – but not always – made from barley and hops. But there are so many variations that it’s easy to be misled by just the name, beer. Root beer, anyone?

In Urubamba, we keep a look out for the red bag and, there it is: we stop at the Ajha Wasi Inka Bar. This chicheria is nothing fancy: a dingy room with seating for maybe a dozen or so. Out on the patio you can play the frog drinking game, where the object is to toss a metal token into a frog’s mouth (loser buys the next round).

They make the chicha here from different types of corn, which they first germinate, boil, and then ferment.

Today, there are two kinds of chicha to sample. First up, the standard version, which Peruvians have consumed for millennia. Milky yellow colour, they serve it at room temperature. Tart taste. Second is a version to which they add strawberry. Sweet.  Either way, it’s a beverage can be consumed all night without things ever getting out of hand. Before we drink, we pour a little bit on the ground as an offering to “Pachamama” (Quechan for Earth Mother).

Next door is a pen where they keep the guinea pigs.  They make a nice snack.  Not kidding...stay tuned. 

Several days later, I got a chance to try chicha morada. They make it from purple corn that’s boiled with pineapple rind, cinnamon, and clove, then mixed with sugar and lemon. Served cool. More than anything else, it reminds me of the taste of mulled wine, except chicha morada doesn’t have mulled wine’s sole redeeming feature: alcohol.

One risky aspect to drinking regular chicha is that it’s still fermenting, another natural limitation on over-indulging. Although the chicha is also available for take-out, continuing fermentation makes that tricky as well, as containers have exploded on the way home.

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From Paracas to Arequipa

Paracas, three-and-a-half hours south of Lima, is the departure point for tours of the Ballestas Islands, home to hundreds of sea lions, seals, thousands of marine birds, and (inevitably) guano. My favourite seabird is the Pelican, although watching Pelicans scoop up huge bills full of guano for nest-building gives them some demerit points.

We spent a night in Paracas, which even the most charitable guidebook refers to as “sleepy”. The port area is a succession of dodgy, almost identical seafood eateries (restaurant is too generous) and we end up in one of these. The menu is in pictures only. Don't even try to impress the server with your Spanish.  Just point to what you want. So here’s a picture (left) of what I ordered, although in the picture on the menu, the fish looked much smaller...or the plate was much bigger.  Delicious grilled fresh white fish, but no idea what it was. No wine, just beer. In Peru, most beers were named for the large city -- Cusquena, Arequipena, Callao, Trujillo -- where they originated but now a single company, Backus & Johnston, makes all these beers. The most readily available is Cusqueña, and that’s what’s available with the fish.

The next night we’re in Nazca, staying at a former Augustine convent. Dinner is Peruvian Chicken Stew for me, and Breaded Filet Mignon (much better than the name suggests) for Michèle. We try another Tacama wine (and it’s becoming clear than Tacama is THE leading Peruvian wine producer). This one is Tacama Seleccion Especial 2009, Ica Valley, 13.5% ABV. An unusual blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot, two varieties known for yielding tannic wines. Aromas and flavours of black cherry, cassis, plum, raspberry, anise, and black pepper. Grippy tannins (to be expected) but certainly not harsh. The tannins outlast the fruit on the finish. Could be interesting to try this wine in a few years when the tannins might have softened. (The photo’s a bit off; I blame the multiple Pisco Sours.)

On to Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. For lunch, I get to try an Alpaca steak. Another huge portion (two pieces of steak; you only see the second one in this photo)…tough and overcooked. A disappointment. But the restaurant is one of those tour factories geared to high production, not high quality.

And that means that, for dinner, we need a treat. Off we go to La Trattoria del Monasterio, a restaurant designed by Gaston Acurio. Located in the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, it specialises in homemade pasta. Italian with a Peruvian twist.  Michèle orders Tagliolini al ragu di Agnello (a sauce made from slowly stewed lamb, fresh tomatoes, wine, and herbs) and my choice is Lasagne Sierra, stuffed with shrimp and smoked trout (a regional specialty) with a creamy sauce of spicy tomatoes. Fresh pasta, perfectly cooked, great stuff.

At last, we find a Peruvian wine that’s not Tacama! Tabernero Gran Tinto Fina Reserva 2009, Ica Valley, 13.5% ABV. A blend of Malbec and Merlot. Plum and cherry, spices, and a bit of vanilla on the nose, with the slightly tart fruit coming through on the flavour. Medium tannins and acidity. Well-balanced and a good match with the food.

For dessert, we have the specialty of Arequipa: Queso helado (literally, frozen cheese), made with milk, condensed milk and cream…but no cheese. This version also contains coconuts and cinnamon over a crispy almond cookies, strawberry sorbet, and papaya-arequipeña compote. Smooth and refreshing, not as rich as you might expect.  Faith in Peruvian cuisine restored.

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