Peruvian cooking and apartment photos

During our time here, we've had a few opportunities to learn to cook different Peruvian dishes. Oil and rice are essentials to all meals, so everything that can be fried, is fried, and there's almost not a single meal that doesn't include rice (even pasta and soups are served with big portion of rice). There's always a ton of spices, and many people will use several large spoonfuls of salt, sugar, cumin, pepper, and MSG (a questionable "flavor enhancer," most popularly used in chinese restaurants) even in small batches of food.

Our good friend Carmen, see photo below, came over to our apartment the other day to teach us how to make ceviche, a Peruvian specialty made of raw fish in lime sauce, served with onion, potato, rice, yuka (a white root), fried corn (not to be confused with popcorn), and more. Peruvians usually make food from scratch, so it was about a 4 hour adventure (including the trip to the market). But it was definitely worth the wait -- so delicious!

Cutting up the fish.

Taking a bite (or at least pretending to) of the raw fish.

I've been asked to put out pictures of the apartment where Elin and I live, so here they are! It's small and nice -- a little kitchen with a cooking plate, a table and four chairs, a small fridge, a fan (the most important piece of furniture we own), a bathroom, and two beds. The apartment is really nice by Peruvian standards, and to be honest, it would have been nice to be in a bit of a simpler place, but I won't complain. It's great to have a quiet place to come home to, and a place to bring over friends, and to host English classes on nights and weekends. Plus, its only about a 15 min walk from La Restinga, so it's easy to go back and forth several times each day.

The beds and the door leading out to the hallway.

PS: Go to this website (http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000225ceviche.php) or just google "ceviche recipe" to find out how to make it yourself!