Ever since I traveled to Peru with Operation Christmas Child, I had been looking for an opportunity to take the family to experience some of the food and drinks that I tasted in Peru. Jason never seemed to me to be too excited about it so it never happened. The girls are having a culture day at their school that they attend one day a week, and Joy chose Peru for her country. One day when it was just the girls and I at home I took the opportunity to finally get to take them to try Peruvian food at Tesoro del Inca Peruvian Restaurant in Irving, TX.
I especially wanted to try Peru’s soft drink Inca Kola and Chicha Morada. I loved both of these drinks and had them often in Peru. We also tried Maracuya, and amazing passion fruit drink–yum! Don’t scrimp on drinks when you go for Peruvian food!
Chicha Morada is a drink made from purple corn. A man even brought the corn that it’s made from to the table to show the children and also gave each of them a chicha morada flavored candy.
Sorry for this photo. I had planned to take a half way decent even though I only had the camera on my phone with me, but we were all so excited to eat that I didn’t remember to take a photo until we had already dug in! I was dying for some Rotisserie chicken. The best Rotisserie chicken I have ever had was in Peru. Guess what? They were fresh out! They had a big group from a Christian school visiting the restaurant who must have taken all they had. I was a bit bummed, but chose Lomo Saltado, a classis Peruvian dish with sautéed lean beef, potatoes, onions, garlic, chopped parsley and spices served with homemade fries and steamed rice, and Arroz con Pollo, a chicken, rice and green peas dish cooked in cilantro and Peruvian spices. Both of these were excellent. My girls and I loved the meals! They tasted exactly like I remember food tasting in Peru!
After we ate they brought us Picarones which are sweet, ring-shaped fritters with a pumpkin base. They are like mildly sweet donuts with a molasses syrup drizzled over them.
We had so much fun! The girls are in love with Peruvian food and and drinks. Now I’d love to introduce them to the people… When I told my husband about it, he was indignant. He wanted to go! I can never figure that man out, but it’s fun trying. 🙂 I guess we’ll just have to go again!
On the way home we stopped at a Latin American grocery store and picked up Inca Cola for Joy to take to school on her culture day. She can’t wait to share it with her friends!
How fun to be able to eat food from Peru! I don’t think we have a Peruvian restaurant around here. I would really love to go to a Guatemalan restaurant, but the closest thing Washington has is Mexican food, which isn’t really the same.