THREE COURSES AND A COCKTAIL FROM REAL Peru!

Ceviche

This is the Peruvian starter par excellence, consisting of white fish cured in lemon/lime juice and chilli sauce, and served with sweet potato and a red onion and tomato salad. You will need:

• 1 red pepper
• 2 small red birdseye chillis
• 3 tomates
• 1 large red onion
• 1kg white fish (hake, cod, etc)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Bunch of fresh coriander
• Lettuce
• 3 or 4 sweet potatoes
• Either 8-10 Peruvian lemons or
• 5-6 limes and 1 'normal' lemon

Instructions for the ceviche

1. Cut the fish into small pieces, chop the garlic and chilli very finely.
2. Leave the fish to marinate in the lemon, lime, garlic and chilli for about 40 mins.
3. Meanwhile, finely chop the coriander and cut the onion and red pepper into thin strips.
4. After the initial 40 mins, add the coriander, etc. to the marinade and leave for another 40 mins.

Instructions for the salad (prepare while the ceviche is marinating)

1. Peel and boil the sweet potatoes. Cut in half and leave to cool
2. Finely dice the tomatoes
3. Once the marinading is finished, retrieve the onion and red pepper and mix with the tomatoes

Serving instructions

1. Serve the ceviche and salad on a thin bed of lettuce and spoon the marinade juices on top.
2. Add the cold sweet potatoes to the plate.

Lomo Saltado

This is a similar idea to a stir-fry so it's really quick to prepare once you have all your ingredients ready. The recipe calls for both chips and rice so be careful not to overdo it. The chips are an intrinsic part of the dish so don't try and get all healthy and cut them out! You will need:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium red onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 red pepper
• About 500g of good steak
• Rice for 4 people
• Enough potatoes for chips for 2-3 people
• 1 medium-strength red chili (if you can't get aji)
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Red wine
• Soy sauce

Instructions

1. Chip and fry the potatoes (don't use oven chips: it's just not the same). Set aside for the moment.
2. Finely chop the chili and garlic
3. Put the rice on to boil, adding about a third of the garlic
4. While the rice is cooking, cut the steak into thin strips about 5cm long and chop the onions, tomatoes and pepper into good-sized chunks.
5. This should take about 10mins, meaning you have about 10mins before the rice is ready: this is perfect.
6. Heat the oil in a wok or similar. Add the rest of the garlic, then the steak strips, a dash of wine, another of soy sauce, sprinkle on the cumin and and cook until browned.
7. Next add the onion, pepper, tomatoes and oregano. Splash on salt, pepper and soy sauce as well.
8. Give it a stir, turn it onto a medium-low heat, cover and leave for 5 minutes or so - DO NOT let it over cook!

Serving instructions

1. Create a kind of volcano of rice on the plate.
2. Add the chips to the pan of steak and veg and heat quickly.
3. Spoon the food and sauce into the 'crater of the volcano'

Thanks to the staff at El Pollo Pechugon, Calle Porta, Miraflores for the Lomo saltado recipe!

Arroz con Leche

To finish off, a small rice pudding! A doddle to prepare and served cold so you don't have to worry about timing! You will need:

• 500g long-grain rice
• 1.5pts semi-skinned milk
• 0.5pt evaporated milk
• 100g sugar
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• Handful of raisins
• Brandy if you have it
• Vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. 1.Soak the rice in hot water for 10 mins.
2. Drain and put in a high-sided pan with a lid. Add about 2/3 of the semi-skimmed milk and stir.
3. Cover, and bring the mixture to the boil. Once the mixture is boiling, place the pan in a pre-heated oven (180C, Gas Mark 4) for 15 minutes.
4. While the pan is in the oven, heat the remaining cup of semi-skimmed milk in another pan, adding the cinnamon stick, evaporated milk and sugar. Leave barely simmering for 5 minutes.
5. Add the raisins, vanilla extract and brandy to taste. Leave to simmer for another ten minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the oven. The milk should be completely absorbed by the rice.
7. Add the contents of the two pans, and cook, stirring often, for five minutes.

Serving Instructions

1. Spoon into small bowls and leave to cool. Serve cool/cold with a very light sprinkling of cinnamon powder on top.

Pisco Sour

Pisco is the definitive Peruvian drink. A clear brandy, it can be drunk neat but is usually used in cocktails such as algorrobina or as a Pisco Sour, the classic Peruvian cocktail! Pisco Sours are often served as aperitifs but you can also drink them all night - trust us, we know!

We're afraid to say that if you can't get Pisco - usually only by mail-order in the UK - then you might have to wait until you get back as nothing else quite cuts it... For this cocktail, you will need:

• 3 glasses of Pisco Puro
• 1.5 glasses of sugar
• 1 egg white
• Crunched-up ice cubes
• Angostura bitters
• Powdered cinnamon
• Either 2 glasses of fresh Peruvian lemon juice or
• 2 glasses of lime juice

Instructions

1. Add the Pisco and egg-white to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously
2. In the shaker add the crunched ice cubes and stir until you can see the ice start to melt
3. Add the sugar and lemon/lime juice and stur slowly until the ice has melteedcompletely

Serving Instructions

1. Serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a single drop of bitters.