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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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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La Rosa Nautica

For 16 hours we hopped (to Newark), skipped (to Houston), and jumped (to Lima) our way down to Peru, landing at 10:30 at night after a 4-hour layover in Houston. Luckily, in the Houston airport, we had found a reasonably good restaurant (well, good by airport standards) and whiled away the hours with tenderloin steaks and a bottle of Tempranillo.

We’ve come to Peru for a variety of reasons. Some of the most famous sites in the world are here: Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Lake Titicaca. When I went to school, we learned about “western” civilization…Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and so on through Western Europe and into North America. If we learned anything about the indigenous civilizations of the Americas, it was that they were inferior and deserving of subjugation. So here’s a chance to learn about the pre-Inca and Inca civilizations…and about life in Peru today.

And Peru is becoming famous for a cuisine that marries indigenous cuisine with Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese influences. The strength is local ingredients and chefs who know what to do with an incredible array of fresh seafood, the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, and the abundant produce from the microclimates along the Andean foothills and valleys.

Our hotel in Lima – actually, in Miraflores, which has become a satellite to Lima – is only a 20-minute stroll down to the Pacific Ocean and that’s where we head the next morning. Nothing like ocean air to cure the hangover of modern air travel.

For lunch, we head to La Rosa Nautica, a restaurant built on a pier on the ocean. From our table, we look out onto the Pacific, with the waves rolling into the pier below us. Very relaxing. It’s still early (12:30 is early to eat lunch in Peru) so our dining room – there are 4 of them – is almost empty when we are seated. But it gradually fills up, mostly with families and by 1:30, it’s full…and still full when we leave at 3.

It’s not hard to decide what to have at an Oceanside restaurant. Michèle picks the Seabass Papillote, steamed with a bit of white wine, inside a parchment paper box, origami style, with carrot strips, zucchini, white leek and mushrooms, garnished “a la jardinera” rice.

I’m a sucker for “signature” dishes so my choice is the Rosa Nautica Seabass, cooked in a Pernod sauce, served with sea scallops and shrimps, on a bed of yellow Peruvian potatoes and topped with puff pastry.

Fresh seafood, well-prepared, it doesn’t get any better!

The wine list offers our first chance to try a Peruvian wine. We’re not sure what to expect, as Peru's signature alcohol is more Pisco (think grappa) than table wines. My pre-trip research tells me that Peruvian table wines are generally off-dry at best. But I know that Tacama has the best reputation (Tacama claims to be the oldest vineyard in Peru, and South America, tracing its founding to 1540). With some rudimentary Spanish (¿muy seco?), I order a bottle of Tacama Blanco des Blancos 2010, Ica Valley, 13.5% ABV. It’s a blend of Sauvignon Blanc (37%), Chardonnay (34%), and Viognier (29%). Aromas of red apple, pineapple, and banana with some floral notes coming from the Viognier. The Sauvignon Blanc shows up on the taste with more citrus than came through on the aromas, along with the red apple. It’s medium-bodied with a smooth acidity that really drops off before the finish. It works well with the fish and our Peruvian wine experience is off to a good start.

We finish by sharing a traditional dessert: El alfajor Rosa Nautica, stuffed with manjar and garnished with fior di panna ice cream. Manjar is essentially sweet condensed milk that’s been further thickened by reduction (very similar to dulce de leche), and it’s placed between two biscuits. Sorry, it was all gone before I thought of a photo!

Going to Lima? Put La Rosa Nautica on your list. Great ambiance, good food, good service!

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