by Carolyn Canouse
Just last month I spent a couple of weeks in San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru. This is one of my favorite places in the world, and after 15 long months, I returned to what I consider my second homeland. I absolutely love to cook and decided to make one of my favorite dishes for my Peruvian family: tacos. As common as this food is in the states, I was shocked to find out nobody there had ever tried one! I asked one of our scholarship students, Erick, what he would think if someone told him they had never tried Peruvian Ceviche or Lomo Saltado, two of their most popular dishes. He said, "I couldn't believe that. I wouldn't believe that they had never tried those two dishes." I would bet the majority of Americans have not had either of these (which they should).
Erick shares my love of cooking, so I enlisted his help to prepare two different types of tacos: picadillo & carne asada. We were able to find all the ingredients, including tortillas, at the Metro grocery store. We set up a buffet, along with a side of rice because they are Peruvian and that goes with every meal. There were about a dozen people at the study center that day and they all seemed to love this new found meal. I briefly explained how to make them, and that it's an economical meal to prepare because you only use a little bit of meat with all the other toppings. I hope they share this recipe with their family and enjoy preparing them as much as I do. And yes, I did make these on TUESDAY.
Carolyn is the President and co-founder of Make a Miracle. She is an avid taco consumer.