In the second episode of Food Safari, Maeve O'Meara explores the country considered the gourmet destination of South America - Peru - and its infiltration into Australian culture.
Maeve meets Alejandro Saravia from Morena restaurant in Surry Hills, who shows her some of the key ingredients in Peruvian cuisine including chillies, corn, potato and the high protein grain of the Andes - quinoa. Maeve then joins a group of Peruvian women making humitas, known as the 'bread of the Incas'.
Chef Jorge Chacon shows how to make the world's best chips using cassava, which cooks up to a very crunchy outside and smooth creamy inside, served with a mellow chilli-based huancaina sauce, while Luis Almenara shows how to make the famous cocktail of Peru - the pisco sour - using plenty of freshly squeezed lime juice and finishing with a touch of Angostura bitters.
Chef Danny Parreno shows off the Japanese influence in Peru with a marinated raw scallop and kingfish dish with a chilli dressing called tiradito. Then it's back to the high mountains to learn about some of the popular meats of Peru.
Finally, Maeve joins an Andean outdoor feast known as a pacha manca or ground oven feast that is dedicated to the Earth Mother, hosted by Carlos Barriga and family. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC
