The first time I learned about Peru was a bit of a strange and unrelated coincident.

The Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition is known as LIMA. While looking up that up on the internet I was brought to a different Lima – the capital of Peru, and that was how I first know about this South American country.

Peruvian Gastronomic Week at Ritz Carlton - Joyce & Jamie
Peruvian Gastronomic Week at Ritz Carlton – Joyce & Jamie

Fast forward many years later, I found myself sitting across a Peruvian colleague at my work place, and now a chance to get a taste of Peruvian cuisine for the first time in my life. (I ran the photos through my colleagues and he gave a thumbs up on their authenticity)

The Peruvian Gastronomic Dinner starts from 10th to 16th October 2012 and is priced at RM180++ per person (with two pisco sours). It is a collaboration between Ritz Carlton KL and the Peru Embassy.

Ceviche - salmon, mussels, tuna & octopus
Ceviche – tuna, mussels, salmon & octopus

Anyway, lets get on with the food.

Peruvian cuisine has a strong influence from African, Arab, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cooking. This is particularly evident with the raw fish dish that is Ceviche.

mix this up and you get a good plate of Ceviche - seafood goodness
mix this up and you get a good plate of Ceviche – seafood goodness

Ceviche is in fact declared a part of Peru’s “national heritage”. The dish is a mixture of chunks of fish/prawns/octopus with key lime, sliced onions, chili peppers, salt and pepper.

In this regard, it is actually closer to umai, a traditional Sarawakian dish I had thanks to Irene on our trip to Sipadan many moons ago.

The ceviche was delicious and we had second servings. If you like sashimi, you’ll love this.

octopus with black olive alioli and various types of potato dishes
octopus with black olive alioli and various types of potato dishes

Another interesting dish that stands out here was the octopus with black olive alioli. The octopus prepared not unlike those in Japanese cuisine, but what’s distinctive here is the black olive alioli, a sauce made from garlic, olive, lemon juice, and egg yolk with the taste that reminds me of fu yee (fermented bean curd). This needs a little getting used to, but I find it quite interesting.

Executive Chef Rafael Lopez-Aliaga mentioned that there are over 4000 types of potato found in Peru, and there’s a few samples of dishes made from potato at the festival. I enjoyed the potato with huancaina sauce (yellow chili sauce), and the mash with yellow chili and crab was excellent too.

potato, chicken & peanut stew; sea bass with seafood & spicy sauce; tenderloin beef with onion & potato; beef and cilantro stew
potato, chicken & peanut stew; sea bass with seafood & spicy sauce;
tenderloin beef with onion & potato; beef and cilantro stew

The main dishes from Peruvian Gastronomic festival certainly gives a hint of their origin while retaining a unique. There are 9 different dishes presented here.

Peruvian heritage. Potato, chicken and peanut stew is something that I’ve never tasted before, with a hint of peanut butter and the savory taste of chicken, it is quite special.

Sea bass with seafood & spice sauce (they don’t call it Chilean sea bass here though they are the same thing) goes well with rice, tenderloin with onion and potato savory and delicious, and beef with cilantro stew provided a little kick to the taste buds too.

desserts! - pecan with dried fruits, rice pudding, milk pudding, and more
desserts! – pecan with dried fruits, rice pudding, milk pudding, and more

And then there’s the desserts. The usual suspects were rice pudding, sweet milk pudding, apricot and coconut cake, but of course, there’re those Peruvian influenced sweet dishes such as pisco chocolate cakes, chirimoya, orange and meringue. and lucama crunch.

Always good to have a sweet ending isn’t it?

pisco sour is a definite must try drinks to complete the Peruvian experience
pisco sour is a definite must try drinks to complete the Peruvian experience

By the way, each guest is also served two glasses of Pisco sours to complete the Peruvian experience. The drinks is a mixture of Peruvian Pisco with the addition of lime (or lemon) juice, syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters.

It was certainly an excellent dinner and a great introduction to Peruvian cuisine. Now where do I find more Peruvian food?

Ritz Carlton, KL

Address:
Peruvian Gastronomic Week @ Ritz-Carlton Hotel
168 Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur

GPS: 3.146960, 101.715406
Tel: 03-2141 8000

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In an unrelated news, our election is here starting tomorrow (17th Oct 2012). Watch this space for more information very soon!

It’s gonna be exciting. 😀

KY eats – The Peruvian Gastronomic Week at Ritz Carlton KL
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17 thoughts on “KY eats – The Peruvian Gastronomic Week at Ritz Carlton KL

  • October 15, 2012 at 11:41 am
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    wah this cuisine is really out of the ordinary. lucky you!

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    • October 15, 2012 at 11:55 am
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      eiling: haha ya, good food, great times 😀

      Reply
  • October 15, 2012 at 3:36 pm
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    we must beg the peruvian embassy to get one of their citizens to open a restaurant in KL! i want ceviche, and i want it often! 😀

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    • October 15, 2012 at 4:23 pm
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      Sean: ya, we need ceviche!!

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  • October 15, 2012 at 7:27 pm
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    Wow I’ve never tried Peruvian cuisine and I’m intrigued! Still can’t believe there are 4000 types of potato…

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    • October 16, 2012 at 8:00 am
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      Katie: ya, I’m not sure if the good chef has.. exaggerated a bit? haha.

      Reply
  • October 15, 2012 at 9:39 pm
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    My fav Peruvian dish is ceviche also… made umai sometime ago, I shd try making ceviche soon since the prep is similar.

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    • October 16, 2012 at 8:00 am
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      Baby Sumo: ya do it! and invite me over to noms! hahaha.

      Reply
  • October 15, 2012 at 11:16 pm
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    I live ceviche!!! Went there yesterday, simply love all their dishes.. The potatoes, seafood, corn in everything!!! And love the pisco sours too..

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    • October 16, 2012 at 8:00 am
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      Jean: in short, everything! yums! haha.

      Reply
  • October 16, 2012 at 1:38 pm
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    i have never tried any peruvian cuisine at all. but umai YESH! LOVE it!

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    • October 16, 2012 at 1:55 pm
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      Constance Ant: then you’ll like it! 😀

      Reply
  • October 16, 2012 at 7:57 pm
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    Wow! I have never tasted Peruvian food before! Looks delicious!

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    • October 18, 2012 at 6:09 pm
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      foongpc: ya they are delicious actually!

      Reply
  • October 17, 2012 at 1:37 am
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    yeah first time i read of ceviche i automatically thought of umai too. except we use calamansi lime (still my favourite sort of lime!) and there’s the option to sprinkle baked sago balls over it – crunchy! looks like an amazing meal… nice that we’re getting more and more exotic cuisines introduced here. 😀

    Reply
    • October 18, 2012 at 6:09 pm
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      Irene: haha first when I had it I thought of you cos u belanja me umaiii!

      Reply
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