There is also a big influence of Chinese style food in Peru, so I enjoyed chaufa, which is a Peruvian Chinese-style fried rice. Some common drinks here are Inca Cola (a bright yellow bubble gum-flavored soda), chicha morada (made from purple corn), and cebada (made from barley). There are also lots of lemonade and fruit juices!
Most of the food prepared here in Peru is either "a la leña," which is smoked or cooked on a gas stove top in the house or in an open space outside the house. The stoves are not like the ones in the United States. There is typically a small tank of gas in the kitchen, which then has a tube that connects to a round stovetop. You have to turn the gas on by turning a knob, then light a match to start the fire on the stove. Most people here do not have ovens. Many families cook outside on a stovetop, or using charcoal or wood. You will also see people grilling meats on a "caja china," which is a small box-shaped grill. There are also stoves made from adobe (mud), which have a hole where you place wood or charcoal. The one thing I love about food here is that everything is very fresh, and we rarely eat leftovers. There is no fast food in my town, or pre-packaged frozen foods, like we have in the United States. Even buying things like chicken, you have to go to a big market where they sell the whole chicken. Cooking meals usually involves cutting up fresh spices or herbs, making different creams such as "ahí," which is a spicy sauce made from a yellow pepper only found here in Peru, and using different parts of the chicken. Almost all of the meals come with rice or potatoes as that is traditionary here.
