Forking through Lima, Peru, one bite at a time

Last week my husband and I went on safari in Lima, Peru. We didn't use a gun or a camera. We used a fork, and we aimed high.

Gaston Acurio arranged our hunting expedition through Mondoverde Expeditions, the tour agency we used to book our trip. Gaston is the leading chef of South America. His wildly popular television show in Peru seeks out unique culinary experiences throughout the nation. His cooking school, in one of the poorer districts of Lima, has helped launch the careers of many struggling natives. And he has put Peruvian cuisine on the map with restaurants in Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Spain, just to name a few. Recently, he opened La Mar in San Francisco, which is already creating a stir with its unique menu.

We ate our way across the city, educating our palates as well as our minds with a variety of local dishes. We began our culinary experience at La Mar, the model restaurant for its namesake in San Francisco. An open-air eatery that serves only lunch, we started off with one of its signature dishes of ceviche, a variety of raw fish including scallops, shrimp, sole and octopus that are soaked in lime juice and served with sweet potatoes, corn and other vegetables. We washed it down with the traditional Peruvian cocktail, the pisco sour. And we continued to feast on sushi and other seafood delicacies.

We continued our fishing trip to Astrid & Gaston, the flagship restaurant for Gaston Acurio, which is considered to be one of the finest restaurants in Lima by many of the locals. Here we started with a crayfish ravioli served with a shrimp sauce and followed it with a sea bass steak scented with spearmint and served with pink potatoes. We finished with a suckling pig served over mashed Huamantanga potatoes and a reduction sauce.

For dessert we headed to Tanta, a market-style deli known for its abundant choice of sweets, as well as a number of carryout specialties. We sampled 21 confections.

Local cuisines have always been an important part of international travel. But delicacies in one country don't always appeal to an American traveling abroad. You may enjoy a meal in a Korean restaurant and then discover you dined on dog meat. Or you may wonder what the unusual taste is when you eat a steak in Easter Island and find out it's a horse of a different color.

While it may not seem fair to eat some of this fare, it is a cultural experience and should not be missed. That's why I shudder when I see the Golden Arches popping up in so many international locations.

"American chains have become quite popular here," said our guide in Lima, as we passed a McDonald's and a Chili's restaurant. "It's too bad. The food is not healthy, and it's very expensive."

And it's also boring. The variety of foods in different cultures is what makes travel a unique experience. Tourists who refuse to try the local foods and single-mindedly seek out the familiar miss out on the most important parts of the travel experience.

Our eating frenzy lasted six hours. While we worked our way across the city, we met local people and restaurant employees at each stop. They shared stories about their cuisine, culture and country. Needless to say, it was a fulfilling day in more ways than one. And that's food for thought.

Gail Todd, a free-lance writer,worked as a flight attendant for more than 30years. She can be reached via e-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.