Pisco and Ceviche Tasting at Carmo in New Orleans, Photos by Cathedral Creative Studios © 2011
One of my best friends and his wife are owners of Carmo Cafe in New Orleans, and since I was going there for the International Food Bloggers Conference, we decided to do a Peruvian tasting at their cafe. I was thrilled to share Peruvian food with New Orleanians and we quickly decided on a menu: Pisco Sours, Ceviche Nikkei, and Suspiro Limeño — perfect for a city that loves cocktails, seafood, and dessert.
For this special occasion, I brought a bottle of Encanto Pisco with me from San Francisco, but we added a local touch to the Pisco Sour by using Peychaud’s Bitters from New Orleans. For the fish, we found a fresh red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico that had been caught that morning, and since the fish was whole, I had to call on the knife skills I learned at Tante Marie’s cooking camp to fillet and cut the fish.
About a dozen New Orleanians attended the after hours event at Carmo, and they were excited to try their first sip of Pisco and first taste of ceviche. Like the recent Peruvian tasting at 18 Reasons, everyone enjoyed learning about the history and cultural significance of Peruvian cuisine while I talked, answered questions, prepared the Pisco Sours, and demoed how to make the Ceviche Nikkei.
We ended the evening with an impromptu jam session, playing rhythms from Africa and Spain on sax, cajon drum, udu, bongos, and shakers — the perfect accompaniment to a Peruvian tasting in New Orleans. I am very grateful to my friends for hosting this special event, and to the attendees for all their appreciation — it was truly a pleasure to share Peruvian food with you, and I look forward to coming back!