The Ties That Bind, Our Family Trip to Peru

Published 11/18/2024 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Judit Tejada | 11/18/2024

Honey, our beloved guinea pig and pet companion to Emma (our 13-year-old daughter) died while we were on our family trip to Peru. My primary purpose for traveling to Peru (in addition to spending time with my husband and daughter) were to experience and document the ties (primarily food) that bind me to the Peruvian culture. Unfortunately, Honey is not among one of those ties. Guinea Pigs in Peru are not kept as pets rather they are a delicacy known as “Cuy.”

Since Inca times, Cuy has been served on special occasions. According to Eat Peru[1], they are purely bred for food by the people of the Andes.

Our tour group arrived in Cusco and the first stop on the itinerary was a traditional lunch at a llama farm. We were warmly welcomed with traditional dancing and taken to observe a “Pachamanca,” which is a traditional Peruvian cooking technique that involves burying food in the ground to cook it[2].  The food is cooked in a deep hole in the ground lined with bricks, with hot stones at the bottom to act as a stovetop. The food is then covered with grass and dirt. According to google AI, “Pachamanca is a central part of Peruvian culture and cuisine, especially in the Andes. It's a ritual that connects participants to Incan practices and is a way to show respect to Mother Earth. Pachamanca is a cornerstone of local celebrations and family events.”[3]

The Pachamanca immediately reminded of my times in the Dominican Republic over Christmas or during important family events such as anniversaries and baptisms –pigs are roasted over fire and presented whole (often with an apple in its mouth) with traditional merengue always playing in the background.  In my childhood in New York, we did not get to see the whole pig, but my Puerto Rican side of the family always had “lechon” for Christmas. Lechon is shredded port that is often referred to as Puerto Rico’s national dish. Illyanna Maisonet, author of “Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook” writes in the beautiful chapter lechon that cooking a roast pig is “…the most involved recipe...requiring two days of preparation and eight hours of cooking.”[4]

I went to Peru to experience firsthand the place that is described as “among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most significant tangible legacy of the Inca civilization[5]” and to find out if there are ideas or insights in the culture that can contribute to a framework that creates the ingredients needed for a meaningful life.  Like the Milken Family Foundation mission, I had hoped to see the ways that the Inca civilization helped themselves and those around them lead productive lives. With this lunch in Peru, I have stumbled on this and a number of ties that bind: cooking and offering a long-cooked roast is an expression of welcome, love and gratitude. These “ties” (and gathering over a meal) are critical components of a meaningful life. So, with this in mind, I chose to forget that the roast we had been served at lunch was a guinea pig.

The food connections between Dominican (Caribbean) cuisine and Peruvian cuisine continued on this trip. I love a dish called “Lomo Saltado,” a tender beef stir-fry dish (picture right) served with cooked onions in a beautiful brown “soyish” (oyster sauce in some cases) sauce with tomatoes and served with some of type of potatoes (my favorite being french fries). Eating the dish reminds me of my Dominican Aunts cooking “Bistec Encebollado” and serving it with tostones. The dish has the same brown sauce but with less soy sauce and more of an “adobo” based seasoning for the beef. My aunt’s version excludes tomatoes as does mine and is generally dish cooked on the weekend.

In Lima, we were treated to a Peruvian chef’s “experience” and oversaw how lomo saltado is cooked after a quick trip food shopping tour with the chef at the Mercado numero 1 de surquillo, a building that houses loads of stalls with fresh food, meats, spices, vegetables and a place that one could eat quick meals and treats. The mercado transcended me back to my childhood going to “La Marqueta” in East Harlem (around 116 street) where my mom would buy “cuchifritos” (a type of fried food) that included alcapurrias (my favorite!), rellenos de papa and morcilla - always on weekend, probably Sunday after church. An alcapurria is a fritter with cooked ground beef in its center.

Red meat is a tie that binds my Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage with that of Peru as lomo saltado involves red meat. Yet, this type of meat is the subject of much debate in terms of health risks – it has been associated with an increased risk of certain cancers.[6] Yet, the lesson here and the tie that binds is to eat “everything in moderation” – red meat is not eaten every day in Peru nor do I eat cuchifritos every Sunday. A balanced approach to food is also key to a meaningful life. 

"Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies." - John Q. Tullius. 

Lastly, chocolate is a great example of food as medicine. One of my most memorable experiences in Cusco as well included making chocolate starting with cacao beans at choco museo’s location. My Dominican grandmother raised her family in the country mountains near Tenares, Dominican Republic[7]. Here, gathering cacao and making chocolate were part of the cuisine – a morning avena with chocolate or “ponche[8]” with chocolate often was served for breakfast. These were traditions my grandmother passed on while taken care of me in New York City during the 1980’s. In the class, I learned that “theobromine is the principal alkaloid of the cacao bean” and its attributed to a number of positive effects. No wonder we love chocolate.

In sum, the trip to Peru confirmed three ties that bind latino cultures: food is meant to be eaten with company (better yet with those we love), all food is good in moderation and chocolate can be medicine. These ties not only connect our cultures but are key ingredients to a meaningful life. How else could I explain loving Peru even though guinea pigs are one of their primary cuisines? The ties that bind allow us to connect with those we don’t know or initially understand.

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[1] https://www.eatperu.com/eating-cuy-guinea-pig-peruvian-delicacy/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachamanca