Food Shopping

Stocking your Pantry

One of the pleasures of food shopping in Lima is the wide variety of fresh produce, and the fact that almost everything is available year-round.

There is also a fairly wide assortment of imported foods —maybe you can’t find your favourite brand or specific flavor, but there should be plenty to satisfy your cravings until your next visit home.

Whatever your tastes, use your shopping time in Lima to start a new adventure and discover things completely outside your own boundaries.

You’ll find locally made Arab pita bread, Greek-style goat’s cheese, Chinese won ton pastry, sheets of French-style flaky pastry and Greek phyllo, olive oil as strong as any Spaniard’s dream, and even a local version of cranberry juice (Ocean Spray is also available).

Breads and cakes have a strong European influence —Spain, France, Italy— and some specialty bakeries now also carry items such as carrot cake and pecan pie. Brownies tend to be dry, more cake-like than chewy.

If you have a cook or a maid who helps you cook, go shopping with her occasionally. There are some good tips for Peruvian recipes and shopping —and good tips on the mysteries of meat cuts— in the American Women’s Literary Club Cookbook, and your maid can open your eyes to a whole array of possibilities in local herbs and spices.

Most of us are now used to and prefer supermarket shopping, which is admittedly more efficient because you can get almost everything you need in one place. Also, items such as pork should always be bought in supermarkets or specialty stores, where the quality is fully guaranteed.

But even if you don’t make a habit of it, do take the time occasionally to browse at the well-stocked municipal markets. The variety of vegetables and the freshness of the fruit have no comparison, and the vendors are always happy to assist in choosing just the right papaya or pineapple (an art in itself), the avocados that are perfect for today or best eaten tomorrow.  This is also where you will find all the ingredients for Chinese and Japanese dishes. 

Peanuts and other snacks in the dried fruits section  of these markets come no fresher and tastier than this, and will make any packaged version seem so stale and boring. Any vegetable stall vendor will happily provide you with the instructions and all the ingredients you need to make an arroz con pollo, or whatever else it is you want to prepare.

The secret is that when in doubt or curious or in the mood for an adventure, ask – in the supermarkets as much as in the markets, people love to help.

SOME OF THE BEST OPEN MARKETS

In the San Isidro and Miraflores area:

• Mercado de Productores, 15th block of Av. del Ejercito, San Isidro, next to the access down to the Costa Verde road on the beach. Slightly pricey, but spotlessly clean.
• Mercado Surquillo Nº 1, on Paseo de la República at the Av. Ricardo Palma bridge, in Miraflores. This is the gourmet choice, and well earned, for the variety of native and imported fruits and vegetables, Chinese and Japanese ingredients, dried fruits and grains, and items such as Dijon-style mustard and maraschino cherries.
• Farmers’ Market, on Saturday mornings, on the sidewalk behind the Parque Reducto at Av. Benavides and the expressway in Miraflores – organic foods are the specialty, good variety, mostly from the Pachacamac valley.

In the Monterrico and La Molina area:

• Monterrico, on Av. Primavera and Av. Encalada; there is a good choice of lamb, mutton, kid, and some very good specialty shops.
• Agrarian University, at Av. La Universidad in La Molina, has good beef, lamb, kid, as well as vegetables, grains and honey.