Few restaurants that have opened in Lima this year have intrigued me as much as Amor Amar. The restaurant pairs for the first time Argentine chef Luis Alberto Sacilotto (renowned for his work at La Gloria) and Víctor Away Chang-Say (the owner/creator of Pescados Capitales). With this duo at the helm, my expectations were high.
Cartagena’s dining scene has improved drastically in the past year, rivaling Bogota and other much larger metro areas in South America, with several much-hyped openings outside of Daniel Castaño’s Vera. Write ups in the New York Times, Vogue, and elsewhere have proven that the city’s restaurants deserve the attention. In fact Cartagena has always bee great food destination, even before it became the darling of the jetset. It has long benefitted from Colombia’s distinct range of ingredients and the rather diverse population. It was my first ever stop in South America and it will forever remain in my culinary consciousness for that reason.
In Ecuador guanta de monte is just another name for Paca, or Agouti paca. It’s a large rodent, not as large as a capybara that lives off the forest floor, eating fallen fruit, leaves, and tubers. In parts of the Amazon, it’s food. In Coca, where Francisco de Orellana set off on his journey across the Amazon in 1541, sidewalk stalls – some of the best places to eat in town – serve guanta in Salsa de maní – a peanut sauce (sometimes called gordo de maní ) that originated in the province of Manabí. PRice with a with a heaping pile of rice and a grilled banana = $1.50.
Mistura 2010, Lima, Peru’s 3rd annual food festival (September 7-12), is where the most popular food from rustic cafes and even street stalls are served alongside food from the top restaurants. This is the best place to sample the diversity of Peruvian food at every level and where new street food and culinary trends are discovered and awards are given for the best dishes. El Comercio Peru reported last week that more than 14,000 tickets to the event have already been sold. I’ll be there everyday of the event, tasting and shooting everything from juanes to algarobbinas. There’s much more to come on Tuesday, but here is the map of the event grounds to hold you over. If you’re in Lima, this is something you do not want to miss.
In 1968 the eventual founders of Patagonia and North Face outfitters, Yvon Chouinard and Douglas Tompkins, and two other friends drive their VW bus on a whim to Patagonia. The follow the then mostly unpaved Pan-American highway from California to Chile on a trip that took 6 months. The journey would change both of their lives and begin their lifelong interest in Patagonia.
Ceviche can take on many forms, not just the Peruvian style. Every Latin country has some variation and a growing number of fusion restaurants are incorporating Asian flavors. This simple Asian influenced salmon ceviche recipe takes only minutes to prepare and taste great.
Never would I have thought I would see the day when NYC residents will be chowing down on Chile’s fattiest dish. Chilean sandwich shop we love Barros Luco has begun serving the typical dish of Valparaiso, the Chorrillana, a mound of french fries that is topped with steak strips, onions and a fried egg. It has no cholesteral as you would imagine. Barros Luco serves it for just $7.99! Heart attack not included.
Until a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro I thought Alex Atala at D.O.M. in São Paulo was the only chef diving head first into Amazonian ingredients in Brazil. I was wrong. Another chef, Roland Villard, at Rio’s Le Pré Catelan inside the Hotel Sofitel on Copacabana Beach, is just as intimate with these exotic ingredients. If not, more so. The French chef, serves an 11 Course Amazonian Tasting Menu that ranks among the best meals I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
This is a little bit delayed, but Go! Overseas has named New World Review the top blog in South America, just edging out Travelojos. This is the first recognition of any kind I have received for this site, so it’s a nice reassurance.
Oilve oil production in Argentina is still in its infancy. This year is expected to be a poor one because of the falling price of the euro and the fact that Argentineans only consume .15 liters of olive oil annually, compared with 25 liters in Greece. Still, as I discovered at Duty Free in Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza airport while loading up on wine, the country is producing some excellent olive oils.
