Tag Archives: sandwiches

My Lima Love Affair

18 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in lima, peru, restaurants, travel

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It’s official. I absolutely love Lima, Perú.

Miraflores, Lima, Perú

Views along the Malecón in Lima’s Miraflores neighborhood

I must admit that before arriving in Lima, I did not have high expectations. Because countries like Argentina, Chile and Uruguay enjoy a relatively lower poverty rate than their South American neighbors, I’d assumed that their major cities (Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo) would be the most modern, well-maintained, and safest. Wrong. In fact, I’m going to go ahead and make a potentially controversial statement. And I say this with love and respect in my heart for my previous home, but…Lima blows Buenos Aires out of the water.

El Centro Histórico, Lima, Perú

Lima’s Centro Histórico

I know, I know, every city has good and bad neighborhoods, and 10 days in Lima is not enough to make a proper assessment. Especially since most of our time was spent in the upscale Miraflores neighborhood and the Centro Histórico. But if I compare those neighborhoods with ritzy Recoleta and historic Congreso in Buenos Aires, for example, the contrast is stark. Strolling through Miraflores and El Centro, the streets are clean, buildings are well-maintained, there’s no graffiti in sight, bright green manicured parks are plentiful, the Malecón offers impressive sweeping ocean views, and perhaps most exciting, the sidewalks are not a danger zone full of broken tiles peppered with dog poop. Yes, in Lima, people actually pick up after their dogs! C’mon porteños, everybody’s doin’ it!

But the cuisine is where Lima really outshines its neighbors to the south. Options are seemingly endless and global, representing flavors from all over the world. Japanese, Chinese, Persian, Indian, Colombian, Mexican, and Peruvian restaurants bump up against each other throughout the city. It was delicious agony trying to decide where to eat. These are good problems to have.

Dinner at Edo Sushi Bar (Berlin 601) was so incredible I never paused to take a photo. But if you have the chance, order one of the paquetes and let the sushi chefs decide what to give you. Some of the best, most creative sushi I’ve ever tried.

La Lucha Sanguchería Criolla (multiple locations) does a bustling lunch and dinner business, and it’s worth fighting the crowds for a seat. Sandwiches are stacked with thick slices of mouthwatering wood-roasted pork, turkey, chicken, country ham, or asado de res and topped with options like avocado, hard-boiled eggs, pickled onions and pico de gallo. The fries are made from huayro potatoes, which are typically dry and very absorptive, and result in a thick, crispy and flavorful french fry. They also offer a variety of fresh, exotic juices and batidos like my personal favorite, the lúcuma milkshake.

Stop by Café Café (Mártir Olaya 250) for delicious 2 x 1 drinks like the maracuyá sour, a cocktail made from passionfruit juice and pisco. We couldn’t resist the conchitas a la parmesana, scallops in a half shell drenched in white wine and melted parmesan cheese.

Parmesan Scallops from Cafe Cafe

And you can’t leave Lima without trying anticuchos, a popular street food consisting of chunks of beef heart marinated in garlic, cumin and pepper, skewered, and grilled over a hot fire. Let this serve as proof that it really was the face that turned me off with the guinea pig, mmkay? As you might imagine, anticuchos are super rich and flavorful, a little salty for my taste but still delicious.

A mixed grill of anticuchos, chorizo, and steak.

A mixed grill of anticuchos, chorizo, and steak.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the great flavors and restaurants that Lima has to offer. (Check out my previous Lima post for some additional tips). Most regrettably, we lost track of time and flaked on making reservations for any of Gastón Acurio‘s world-renowned restaurants, which I’m pretty sure makes us foodie failures. Given the fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants nature of this trip, I’ve forgotten the importance of planning ahead for a popular restaurant reservation. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Luckily, you don’t need to go to Lima to try some kick ass Peruvian cuisine, and I plan to check out Acurio’s famous cooking at La Mar Cebichería (locations in NYC and San Francisco). For my Chicago friends, keep an eye out for T’anta, set to open this summer.

Eating (and Drinking) Our Way Through Chile

21 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in antofagasta, chile, san pedro de atacama, travel

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La Portada in Antofagasta, Chile

La Portada in Antofagasta, Chile

After arriving in Chile, we worked our way up the coast from Bahía Inglesa to Arica, on the border of Peru. Because we spent so much of our time here camping on the beach, I haven’t done a great job of chronicling our comidas. I’ve been too busy wondering if I will ever get all of the sand off of my person and possessions. (Answer: no, never).

But there have been good eats. Lots of good eats. These are the highlights.

Fried Reineta with Ensalada Chilena

In Juan Lopez, a small beach town just north of Antofagasta and its iconic Portada, we crowded into a roadside stall to devour delicious fried fish with sides of rice and ensalada chilena, a basic salad of sliced tomatoes, white onions, and chopped parsley. The fish, reineta, was a mild white variety fried in a light cumin seasoning. We thoroughly approved.

Clockwise from top left: Laguna Miscanti with Miñiques Volcano in the background; Gaspar in the crystal clear water at the Puritama Hot Springs; floating in Laguna Cejar, a lake in the Atacama salt flat with a high salt concentration; Las Tres Marias in the Valley of the Moon

Atacama highlights clockwise from top left: Laguna Miscanti with Miñiques Volcano in the background; Gaspar in the crystal clear water at the Puritama Hot Springs; me bobbing around in Laguna Cejar, a lake in the Atacama salt flat with a salt concentration that rivals the Dead Sea; and finally the eerie moonscape surrounding Las Tres Marias in the Valley of the Moon

Then we took an inland detour to hit San Pedro de Atacama, a pueblo in the Atacama desert that is surrounded by natural wonders including fields full of bubbling geysers, enormous salt flats, hot springs, and a better view of the stars than I ever imagined possible. In between bouts of grilling and sandwich-making, we hit the pedestrian street Calle Caracoles for dinner and had an excellent goat cheese and tomato appetizer served simmering in olive oil with garlic, onions and thyme from Casa de Piedra.

Goat Cheese & Tomato

Because I’m a big fat fan of big fat sandwiches, I had to try one of the most common sammies being hawked by the corner shops and street vendors: the churrasco completo, loaded with thinly sliced beef, cheese, tomato, mayo, avocado, and chucrut (basically sauerkraut). It’s greasy, it’s messy, it’s everything I demand from a big fat sandwich. Well done, Chilenos!

Chilean Churrasco Sandwich

I definitely embrace the Chilean love of avocado. In addition to being eaten by the slice, puré de palta (pureed avocado) is a go-to condiment that lines the sandwich counters in pump canisters alongside ketchup and mayo, gracing hot dogs, hamburgers and fries alike. I’m pretty sure that when I reflect on Chilean cuisine in the future, the two foodstuffs that will forever come to mind are avocado and mayonnaise. On everything.

And of course, no meal would be complete without trying some new vinos. We discovered carménère, a member of the cabernet family that used to be produced exclusively in Bordeaux, France but now Chile boasts the world’s largest area planted with the variety. It’s a medium-bodied, deep crimson wine often used for blending, but in its pure form has a cherry-like, fruity flavor with spicy undertones that we found really appealing. Salud!

Image from Ciudad Restaurant

Casillero del Diablo carménere image from Ciudad Restaurant

Today we’re heading into Peru, where I’m looking forward to drowning in pisco and ceviche and hopefully avoiding any more bouts of altitude sickness. As I learned in San Pedro de Atacama, 4,500 meters above sea level can make a tummy feel no bueno. Wish me luck!

Campfire Cooking: Hobo Pies

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in argentina, breakfast and brunch, chile, desserts, entrees, recipes, travel

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Why is this road so empty?

The wide open road heading into Paso San Francisco.

We made our way through northern Argentina more quickly than expected. Since we’ve had the opportunity to explore Salta, Tucumán, and Mendoza on previous trips, we basically made a beeline from Brazil to the Chilean coast. We crossed into Chile via the little used Paso de San Francisco, which included more than 100 kilometers of unpaved, extremely bumpy and winding roads through the Andes…an adventure that explains why we had the road virtually to ourselves.

Emerging from Paso San Francisco into the Atacama Desert in Chile

Emerging from Paso San Francisco into the Atacama Desert in Chile

Now we’re slowly working our way up the coast of Chile, where many of the beaches are wide open for public use, fishing, and camping. Having the opportunity to pitch a tent on a peaceful beach with the waves breaking and the sky overflowing with brilliant stars is extra special. And after subsisting on a diet of yogurt, crackers, canned tuna and mouthfuls of desert dust for a few days on the road, we were ready for some tasty camp food.

Playa Cifuncho Camping

I was first introduced to hobo pies by my high school BFF during a camping trip in Assateague Island, Maryland – another spot I highly recommend for some quality beach camping. When she whipped out her hobo pie maker, I admit that I did not believe the hype. It’s basically a square, sandwich-sized pie iron and I prepared myself for the equivalent of grilled cheese. But after devouring deliciously crispy mini pepperoni pizzas pockets and polishing off a S’mores sammie oozing melted chocolate and marshmallows, I was thoroughly convinced that I needed a hobo pie maker, stat. (Thanks Suzie! I should have never doubted you).

Hobo Pies

There’s really no recipe needed for a delicious hobo pie and experimenting is half the fun. The basic requirements are the pie iron (which you can purchase at camping/outdoor stores or online), some non-stick cooking spray, sliced bread, and of course, a campfire. Just grease the pie iron with the cooking spray, make your sandwich with your ingredients of choice, lock it up and stick it in the fire. Cooking time varies depending on the strength of your fire, but I generally check within a minute or so in case I want to adjust the positioning to reduce the potential for burnt toast. Simple, right? And something about cooking on a campfire just makes everything taste better.

With the limited ingredient options that come with traveling through South America, we’ve played it somewhat safe thus far. Toasted ham and cheese with a slice of tomato is a good bet for a quick and easy breakfast or lunch. For dinner, turkey, cheese and tomato sauce with some freshly ground black pepper hits the spot.  But I dream of making delicious Reuben Hobo Pies, or pies stuffed with brie and strawberries, or maybe some peanut butter banana chocolate goodness….but that will have to wait til we’re back in the homeland.

Philly Cheesesteaks in Buenos Aires

09 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in buenos aires, restaurants

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Oh, what a beautiful discovery.

We’d been meaning to try El Banco Rojo for a while, the hole-in-the-wall spot offering comidas para llevar from the owners of dive bar favorite La Puerta Roja in San Telmo. I’d heard they had kebabs and falafel, and despite remarking on the regular that we should check it out, we just hadn’t gotten around to it. But when we strolled by one day and spotted the sign touting not only kebabs and falafel, but Philly Cheesesteaks and BBQ wings, it was a done deal.

The menu is rather…eclectic?

We went into it with low expectations. I mean, c’mon. We couldn’t even find decent cheesesteaks when we lived in Miami or Chicago, so how good could it be in Buenos Aires? Hmm, good enough that we’ve been back on a weekly basis for a cheesesteak fix to accompany Gaspar’s viewing of the Eagles doing whatever it is that they do on NFL Game Pass every Sunday. Football in the summer is just a cruel punishment.

Magic in the making

Okay, okay, so the purists may argue that the peppers are a no-no, but I love them. And unlike a lot of Buenos Aires eateries where fussy eaters are out of luck, El Banco Rojo is willing to make exceptions for someone who may just prefer Whiz Wit’ or Without. The key ingredients are all solid. Good bread, good meat and for the love of God they even have a delicious mysterious Whiz-like cheese! It’s no Jim’s Steaks (which, for the record, kicks both Pat’s and Geno’s asses) but what more could two ex-pats ask for?

EL BANCO ROJO – Bolivar 914 in San Telmo