Peruvian Culture Vs American Culture

Peruvian and Colombian Cuisine

What is culture? Culture is such a complex concept that it is not defined by one simple thing. When studying the culture of a particular group of people we look at their beliefs, fashion, art, music and even food. By simply trying food from a particular culture we can learn much about its history and even geography. Recently I had the opportunity to try authentic Peruvian cuisine. Not only did I get to try new food and get to learn about a new culture, I also got to be able to compare it to my own Colombian culture.

The restaurant Aromas del Peru is sure one of the best restaurants to eat authentic Peruvian food. It is very popular as it has various locations throughout Miami. I went to the one located in Coral

This is because Peruvian cuisine is influenced by various cultures including those of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors, and African slaves (lavidacomida.com). In the 1400s the natives from the Inca Empire sustained themselves mostly with corn, potatoes, and aji otherwise known as chili peppers. To this day Peru, also known as “The Potato Capital of the world”, is well known for its potatoes with 4,000 varieties (foodbycountry.com). Then in the 1500s the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro introduced new foods such as wheat, barley, beans, carrots, onions, chicken pork, and lam. However, the Spanish conquistadores also brought with them many diseases, which led to tons of natives dying and the fall of the Inca Empire. Diseases were not the only thing the Spanish conquistadors brought with them, they also brought many African slaves. This African slaves introduced new ways of cooking such as frying food. Another culture that greatly influenced Peruvian cuisine were he Chinese immigrants that arrived to build railroads in the 1800s (lacidacomida.com). The Chinese introduced ginger, soy sauce, and green onions. In addition, Peruvian cuisine has a lot of diversity due to Peru being divided into three regions, which are the coast, the Andean highlands, and Amazon rainforest. In the coast the climate is dry and seafood and stews are more prominent. In the highlands farming and

It originates from Medellin, which is located in the Antioquia region. It is a plate made up of rice, ground meat, pork rinds, plantains, fried eggs, chorizo, arepa, avocado and red beans. In this dish one can see the history of Colombia. For instance the pork rinds and chorizo came from the Spanish conquistadors. The avocado came from the Brazilians. The chorizo, pork rinds, and plantain are all fried in oil, a cooking method taught by the African slaves. In addition, one can see how the region influenced the dish as it has red beans, a food that is well known in the Antioquia region where Ls Bandeja Paisa originated from. In conclusion, one can learn a lot about a culture through its food and