Out of Africa: Peruvian Creole Cuisine

For five centuries the world has added spice to Peruvian cooking. First it was the Incas who, as they spread their empire throughout the region, brought home influences including seafood, native fruits, grains, and meats like alpaca and cuy from each conquered culture. Then the Spanish, with centuries of Moorish influence, chimed in. Later came slaves from West Africa, who brought flavors that changed the whole of South America, and Frenchmen whose culinary traditions entered by way of open borders and independence. Finally, the Chinese and Japanese were welcomed into the fold, each playing their part in enriching and informing a national cuisine that is, at last, claiming its rightfully notable place in the culinary sphere.

Though modern Peruvian cuisine relies heavily on Japanese influence, the heart of much traditional Peruvian food is African – la comida criolla – and was invented by African slaves in the kitchens of the ruling Spanish aristocracy. 

African flavors are represented in ingredients like plantain, which despite its Asian origins, was a staple in West Africa long before it arrived in the Americas, and sweet potato, which is used to make the dough for that most Peruvian of desserts, the picaron. In fact, while most desserts in Peru are of European origin, nearly all possess African touches of spices and sugary syrups. 

Additional African influence can be felt in dishes like the cau cau de mondongo or choncholi made with tripe; tacu tacu made with leftover rice and beans; patitas con mani from Arequipa made with pork trotters; and anticuchos de Corazon made with slices of beef heart on a skewer. These were dishes born of necessity, of women working in slavery or employed as low-paid members of a household, and in them, nothing was wasted.

The below recipe is a perfect dish to celebrate African roots in Peruvian cuisine. Tacu tacu is usually served with an egg or a breaded beef cutlet, but is updated here with the addition of a spicy seafood sauce. This makes it a perfectly representative Limeño dish, showing off both the African roots at the heart of Peruvian creole cuisine and the riches of the coast that arrive at Lima’s ports every day.

• 4 teaspoons of olive oil
• 4 teaspoons chopped spring onion
• 4 teaspoons finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped aji amarilo (Peruvian yellow chili)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 cups cooked canary beans (mayacoba beans)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked white rice 
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Get the full recipe.