Asparagus and quinoa salad. Lima in love

I am falling in love with this city. It is impossible not to.

Since we arrived six weeks ago I have realised that Lima has so much beauty and art around it. The photos I have taken during this period reflect just a tiny bit of that, even though I am an amateur with the camera. 

This post is just about images, with short stories attached. Through them I hope you see what I saw or feel what I felt. In love.

Beautiful people

This gorgeous little girl is a friend of my son Gabriel. They are in the same classroom in the nido or nursery. She used to cry when her mum, a teacher as well in the nido, dropped her off in the morning. After a few days, she started to smile and participate in the activities. I am a witness of her progress because I spend every morning with Gabriel in the classroom during his adaptation period. She is giving an example to Gabriel, who observes her quietly from his chair.

The young lady on the right is a seller from Huancayo, capital of Junin region, in the central highlands of Peru. I saw her a couple of times last week, when I went to Metro supermarket, and her hat drew my attention but also the way she was carrying her baby in the back. My surprise was when she unwrapped the tied scarf to sell me some honey from a 2 litres jar, "her baby". It was the most delicious honey I have ever tasted. 

I thanked her for letting me to take a photo of her. When she saw it, she said something  in Quechua which I didn't understand, obviously, but I had the impression that it was the first time she saw a selfie, and in a digital camera!

Things that you take for granted, are new for others.

This Saturday morning my husband Nick drew a plan in a big piece of paper: visit the artesanal fish market. It was 8.20am and there we were, checking out the conchitas, the tilapias, the octopus, the crabs (alive)...

There were pelicans everywhere, even inside the fish market. I thought they were kind of cute, so I took Juanan in the pusher to see them, and pat them, except that a local men stopped me alarmed and cried No, señora! aleje al bebe! que los pelicanos sueltan piojos cuando abren sus alas! - do not get the baby close to the pelicans because they spread bugs when they open their wings! 
OMG, I thought...

Fish market Artesanal

I went straight to Inka Farma and bought a shampoo to kill bugs. Back home, I put my soldier hat on and ordered bath time, everyone! no discussion! hurry up!

These are the experiences you live when you are discovering a new country. I am embarrassed to admit that pelicans are a common bird so I should have known about its bugs too!

After a cleaned and disinfected hair, we went to have an empanada in a bar close to our residence. It felt like being in any bar in Spain. It had character, full of locals and so far, with the best meat empanadas in our neighbourhood, Barranco.

The lovely nun you see in the photo was enjoying a peaceful moment - although I am pretty sure she does it more often than I do during her day - until my family arrived. She lasted two minutes and a half after we sat down in the table next to hers.

Figures

The music of Peru is a mix of sounds and styles from the Andes, Africa and Spain. The figure of the left side photo represents a Peruvian musician playing the instrument zampona o ziku. He wears a traditional hat called chullo, which has been used in the Andean Mountain region by indigenous people for thousand of years.

I took this photo when Nick and I were having a pisco cocktail with a Peruvian friend who gave us a very interesting, and sad, view of how he lived the terrorism period in Lima when he was a student. A popular question amongst his friends was: when are you leaving Peru? which country are you going to? Some run away, others stayed. Some didn't live to tell what happened...but you know? Peruvians are proud of being Peruvians, he said with a broken voice.

The photo of the right side is the torito de Pucara, "This handicraft is a result of the fusion between the Spanish and Andean cultures. It is used to have luck, prosperity and protection and it is often placed in the roof of most of Andean houses"

My daughter Aurelia took the photo when we were having a delicious hot chocolate in a art shop called Dedalo. She has sweet tooth, like her mum. The hot chocolate in Peru is spicy, the milk is infused with cloves and cinnamon. Absolutely delightful. 

National drinks

Natural disasters

I thought I left natural disasters back in the Philippines, the typhoons, cyclones and earthquakes. But when Nick brought me home the list of postings two years ago and I said yes, let's apply for Peru! I forgot that this country was in the ring of fire. 

There are sismos constantly, even when you don't feel them (usually magnitud 4). This October we had 21, for example. I am amazed by the way the Peruvians accept the sismos and the possibility of a tsunami as part of their normal lives. We don't have rain, we have sismos! a local told me the first day. He was laughing when he said it. Well, I didn't!

The sunset is incredible from the malecon in Barranco but I must confess that a terrible thought of a huge wave coming from the end of the ocean crosses my mind sometimes. I am not Peruvian after all!

          Great produce

With more variety of potatoes that enough days to taste all of them, the restaurants usually serve fries made with real potato, as it should be. I now feel less guilty when we order them.

When I was in Australia I bought green asparagus once, because I was craving them, but I used to stick to the national produce when I went to the markets. It was a long way from Peru to Australia so the conditions and the freshness were questionable by the time the asparagus arrived. 

Now that we are in the land of asparagus, I eat them weekly with jamon serrano, with a fried egg on top or just grilled with sea salt. 

Asparagus and quinoa salad

I brought this healthy asparagus, quinoa and orange salad (from Emma Galloway) for my good friend Natalie who organised a welcoming lunch for me last week and during which I had the opportunity to meet some of her lovely friends. 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloes, chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
• 400g sparagus
• Finely grated zest of 1/2 large orange
• 1/2 toasted almonds
• 1 cup mint (optional)
• dressing:
• juice of 1/2 large orange
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons of runny honey
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Put the jug on, as you will need boiling water soon. Heat oil in a saucepan and add onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add sesame seeds and quinoa and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often until toasted. Add 375ml boiling water, reduce to a gentle simmer, cover pan and cook for 10-12 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender. Remove from the heat and leaving the lid on set aside to steam before fluffing up with a fork. Cool to room temperature.
2. Blanch the asparagus, drain and refresh in cold water.
3. To make the dressing, simmer orange and lemon juice in a small saucepan until reduced by half. Remove from the hear, add honey and then pour the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly to form a lovely emulsified dressing, Taste and season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. transfer quinoa to a large bowl and stir in orange zest, almonds, mint (optional), asparagus and dressing. Toss well.
5. Share with friends!