The Wild North

Pachamanca

Meat, potatoes, beans and herbs cooked under hot stones in an earth oven. A feast for a group.

Native potatoes

Peru grows thousands of potato varieties: purple, yellow, knobbly, striped. Ask for papas nativas and see how many you can tell apart.

Lake trout

Trout from Titicaca and the mountain lakes, fried whole or cooked as a ceviche.

Mate de coca

Coca-leaf tea, offered on arrival at many Andean hotels. A traditional mild remedy for the altitude, though not a substitute for acclimatising.

Coffee

Grown on the misty eastern slopes. Salkantay trekkers pass coffee farms on the way down to Machu Picchu.

Cacao

Peru grows fine-flavour cacao, much of it from native varieties. The beans taste fruity long before they become chocolate.

Juane

Rice, chicken, olives and egg wrapped in a bijao leaf and boiled. Traditionally eaten for the San Juan festival in June.

Ceviche

Raw white fish 'cooked' in lime juice with red onion, chilli and salt, served with sweet potato and corn. Lunch food: Peruvians rarely eat it at night.

Conchas negras

Black clams from the mangroves of the far north, eaten raw in an inky, punchy ceviche.