The Exotic Kitchens of Peru: The Land of the Inca

Aside from some difficulty in translating recipe names, which read in Spanish make the mouth water, the book offers many delicious recipes among the many more that the Peruvian cuisine offers. Missing from soup recipes from southern Perú is the touch of rocotto (dipped and then taken out)and the splash of lemon. For the best pisco sour try the Biondi pisco from Moquegua, and try to get the South American limes.

I have to say that my parents are from Peru and so is my husband. I already did two dishes from this book and my husband loved them. The book is easy to read and follow. It gives you a brief history of Peru's food. Where the dishes came from - the Coast, Jungle or the Mountain regions. I have cookbooks in Spanish that are from Peru, but you can't find the ingredients or you don't know what they are. I highly recommend this book. In addition, the book is in English and it gives you equivalents of the ingredients, which may not come from the US so you know what you can use if you do not have a certain product.

My father is from Lima, Peru and I grew up with a number of these dishes.... now I can make them! This book contains a faithful representation of classic Peruvian recipes, including a very useful explanation of ingredients and American equivalents or substitutions. You'll find your jaw dropping once or twice when you read about Pirannah Broth and Sting Ray stir fry... overall the food is wonderful, diverse, and tasty as anything! Interesting historical notes and illustrations, as well!

Restaurant Critic Eric Asimov recommended highly this book as one of the first English-language introductions to Peruvian cuisine, which he calls "one of the great cuisines of the world." He writes, "It is the original fusion food, having absorbed influences from almost every continent over the last 500 years, and melded them with ingredients and dishes that provide a direct link to the Incas." He also says that Mark Copeland did the research in Peru. I am passing this on to the rest of you for your information. It convinced me to buy the book!