Peruvian cuisine

Peruvian cooking grew out of Andean ingredients meeting Spanish, Japanese and Chinese kitchens, and the traces of each are still visible.

Peru is the only country where Japanese immigration produced a cuisine of its own: Nikkei. Ceviche in its current form — a short marinade instead of hours in lime — comes directly out of that meeting.

Three chillies decide almost everything: ají amarillo brings a fruity heat, ají panca sweetness and colour, rocoto plain fire. A bell pepper does not stand in for any of them; these are different flavours, not different strengths.