Nos Encanta Comida!



One of the many reasons Liz and I travel so well together is our shared view on food

1. Breaksfast is the most important (and tastiest) meal of the day

2. Sitting at a coffee shop or pasteleria is not a waste of a day

3. Never order the same food (you are obviously going to share and would like to try more than one thing on the menu)

4. Only stay at hostels that include a breakfast

Playing it Safe...



All the pb and j we've eaten so far

When first arriving in Cusco we were very excited to try all the new foods the town had to offer. However, we decided our stomachs were not quite ready for the adventure. So for the first few weeks (and still every once and a while now) our staple was peanut butter and jelly on toasted sandwich bread. We would enjoy the occasional pasta, rice and beans, or mac and cheese as well.






Para niños...y Kyra y Liz



After much debate at the grocery store, we settled on purchasing an ultra-high pasturized, sweetened version of milk for children. Along with that we paired some pricey granola (we thought it was cheaper at the time) for snacks or meals too. We also enjoy making our own coffee (with some classy organic beans the previous tenants left) in a little pot we put on the stove to percolate, which goes well with the sweetened milk.



  

Kyra cooks up some lentils and rice



    

Venturing Out...

 

Once we felt more adjusted and daring Liz and I took trips to the local markets to sample avocado, mango, platanos, and various Peruvian offerings. We have come to especially enjoy trips to Mega (aka Mecca), the big grocery store in town, and to San Pedro, the big open market in town.

San Pedro Market

 

Liz excited with our Mega purchase

  

 

 

Liz is excited about the platanos!

At home we started to cook more exciting things and have become more comfortable with the idea that it may or may not make us sick. For breakfast we have been frying eggs, toasting bread, making coffee, and sampling various flavors of juice (they have passion fruit juice!). We bought some platanos from a señora on the street and fried them up with butter. They needed some sugar, but luckily we had chocolate to sweeten them up. Just the other day we took the biggest food leap yet...we made banana bread! It was an adventure finding all the ingredients in spanish; we ended up using qinoua flour and no baking soda. On top of that  we took up the challange of baking at high altitude with a stove that basically had two settings (hot and hotter).  


In the end, a successful banana bread!



Typical delicious breakfast

  

We have yet to figure
 out what this is

The markets in every town have pretty much the same offerings of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, tons of varieties of potatoes, and different grains. We have a market down the street from our apartment, which is convenient when we want to pick up some palta (avocado) or camote (sweet potato) for lunch on the way home from school.  

The biggest market in Cusco, San Pedro has all of the offerings plus more. There are textile stands, juice bars, cheap lunch deals, and piles of queso (cheese). All the women (and their children) selling goods there always seem to enjoy talking with each other, napping at their stand, and sharing big bowls of hot soup or freshly made guacamole all day long. And of course, bartering with the costumers for the best price. 



They had any kind of meat any way

 you wanted it pretty much.

 Liz and I definitely did not want any of that.

We were lucky enough to be in Puno (a town on the coast of Lake Titicaca) on a Saturday where a huge market stretches multiple blocks offering anything you can think of from a toothbrush to chicken feet. It was fun to go around and barter with the venders to practice our Spanish, but got a bit overwhelming when there were so many options! This market was the cheapest we've found so far; we got 3 juicy mangos for 2 soles (equivalent to about .70 cents).



The typical dress of Peruvian women
 staying warm with some qinoa soup



So colorful!