CALLAO: Gastronomy

Callao cuisine is influenced by various cuisines such as Cantonese, Mediterranean, Italian, and French among others.

The typical dishes of the region are:

Ceviche: Fish cut into pieces and cooked with lemon and chili, served with onions, corn and sweet potatoes.

Leche de tigre: Lemon juice, fish and chili blended.

Parihuela: Concentrated soup of fish and shellfish.

Choritos a la chalaca: Mussels with tomato, cilantro, corn and lemon, all served on the same shell.

Pan con chimbombo: Fish sandwich (Pejerrey Fish)

Culinary culture in Callao

Sea wealth Callao is marvelous. Since colonial times, historians and travelers have left evidence of it.

Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, who visited the port in the early seventeenth century, and certainly enjoyed the food locals, has left a description:

“The port of Callao has a lot of fish, that’s why people did a lot of fishing there and in the entire coast, where every afternoon many fishing boats come with Spanish, Indians and blacks with a huge variety of fishes…”

As in all coastal cities, fish and seafood are essential elements of popular power.

The main dishes consumed by the citizens of Callao include Ceviche, Parihuela, Chupin, Choritos a la chalaca , Chicharron de calamar and Corvina a la chalaca.

Chinas influences is also present in the “ Chauda de mariscos”

In Callao's most traditional neighborhoods, there are small restaurants that offer delicious food. Among them are Mateo, Rovira, Manolo, and Marina, all of which offer unique seafood-based dishes. Diners visit these restaurants religiously.

Since Callao is a port, its cuisine is linked to the sea. Fish, crab, mussels, and all other types of varied seafood are prevalent. This abundance of marine life is the basis for the succulent gastronomic offer, for which Callao is famous.

There is no better way to prove the existence of these delicacies than by visiting the huariques known best to the culinary cognoscenti. The multiple varieties of ceviches and tiraditos will satisfy the appetite of the most exacting diner.

These huariques are family-run businesses that delight the most demanding palates. According to the Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (published in Spain), the term huarique is a Peruvianism that means, 'a hiding place'; that is, 'a place in which to hide, or in which to hide something.

Chef Gastón Acurio defines the term huarique as a small, secret place, a family-run establishment where diners share fine food, and the art of fine dining comes above all else.

He explains, "These are families dedicated to cooking, who have become specialists in one or two signature dishes. The quality of their food is as fine as any found in a five-star restaurant, with the difference being the price, and in some huariques, you can even ask for second helpings."

The chefs in Callao's huariques are self-taught. Using local ingredients and with no lack of imagination, they create dishes not found elsewhere. In Callao, you can find dishes such as tiradito in three flavors, or mango ceviche, or tasty seafood sandwiches, among others. These well-known huariques in el Callao listed below, are places that anyone who seeks good food should know.

RESTAURANTS

La Pescaderia

Seafood and fish, Shop and restaurant

Before you start, the waiter invited me a delicious and refreshing soup served with small fish wells with chili, chopped green onion and lemon to flavor the broth. Of nibbling snails chose a portion of the soy sauce (S/.4.80) and some great Silverside anchovies (S/.6.40), while at the next table a couple reveled in a case of spicy tuna tartar very good looking . In main dishes simply jumped to tacu tacu (S/.22) left me feeling ambivalent: on one hand the taste was delicious, tender meat, salted technique but the number was somewhat dry and annealing. With the tacu tacu yellow pepper cream I have not objection.
In the store you can buy fish high and hot sauce bottles charapita inspired brainchild of Pedro Miguel, which may give a different touch to the kitchen at home. The desserts are truly the flavor of the grandmother, as being of Mrs. Maricucha, grandmother of José López. The Fish just turned one year well positioned in the middle.

· General Dates
Address: Av. La Paz 1299, La Perla, Callao
Phone: 4657095
Atention time: From Monday to Sunday at breakfast and lunch.

· Price per plate: S/. 20
Capacity: 90 people

Restaurant “Marina”

The port of Callao is abundant in fish and shellfish, so much you can fish in it and across the Coast. As in all coastal populations, fish and seafood are essential elements of popular power.

· Address: Malecón Pardo s/n La Punta-Callao

· Phone .: 4298878 Cel.: 995353017