One Year of Pisco Trail
2011 was a year of many firsts for Pisco Trail. I attended my first food bloggers conference in a city rich with culinary and cocktail history, New Orleans. I cooked the first Peruvian tasting at 18 Reasons in San Francisco, followed by its first Pisco cocktails class. And I discovered something new — I love making Peruvian desserts.
I’ve also gotten to really know some of the chefs I admire, like Gaston Acurio, Tereza Izquierdo, and Felipe Rojas Lombardi. Not in person, but through their recipes, books, interviews, and stories. To me, cooking someone’s recipe can be a beautiful and intimate experience, full of rewarding flavors, aromas, and warmth.
Month after month, I was delighted by the articles that announced Peruvian cuisine as the next big thing, and chefs from all over the world like Ferran Adria travelled to Peru for festivals like Mistura to learn about and experience the unique fusion of Inca, European, African, Chinese, and Japanese cultures that is Peruvian cuisine.
Of all the dishes, desserts, and cocktails I made during the past year, these were some of the most popular:
- Dishes: Lomo Saltado, Ceviche Nikkei, Seco de Cordero
- Desserts: Crema Volteada con Quinoa, Suspiro Limeño, Frejol Colado
- Cocktails: Pisco Sour, Pisco Sazerac, Pisco Punch
The Pisco Sour Jelly Shots were a lot of fun to make, and they blurred the line between cocktail and dessert, specially after enjoying one or two of them. But I truly loved making desserts like the Frejol Colado or Alfajores, perhaps because of their rich history, ancient traditions, and slow cooked sweet spices.
After one year of Pisco Trail, I look forward to sharing more Peruvian dishes, desserts, and Pisco cocktails with you in 2012, until then — ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!