Peru
Ceviche and pisco sour, both originated in Peru.
Ceviche, a seafood dish made from fresh raw fish cured in lime juice and spiced with chili pepper and chopped onions. Though originated in Peru, ceviche is a popular dish in pretty much all coastal areas in Latin America from Mexico all the way south to Argentina. Because the dish is not cooked, it must be consumed fresh to minimize the risk of food poisoning (or just carry Cipro with you in case you get diarrhea). This particular ceviche has raw squid, shrimp, and octopus, accompanied by sweet potato and plantain.
Pisco sour, a Peruvian cocktail crafted with Pisco Quebranta, lime juice, and raw egg white. Just like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are types of wine grapes, there are 8 grapes used in pisco production in Peru and Quebranta is one of them.
As with most things in the San Francisco Bay, this place is a bit pricey (you can experience these in Latin America for a fraction of the cost). Nonetheless, with ceviche and pisco sour on the table and Peruvian music blasting in the background, it would definitely feel like you are in Peru – Just refrain yourself from looking out the window, as the trains going to San Francisco are right cross the street and would surely burst your Peruvian bubble. Otherwise, I am giving this experience a 10 out of 10.
青檸汁醃魚和秘魯雞尾酒，都起源於秘魯。
青檸汁醃魚是一種由新鮮魚生加入辣椒和洋蔥醃製的海鮮菜餚，雖然起源於秘魯，但幾乎在拉丁美洲從墨西哥一直向南到阿根廷所有沿海地區都品嚐到的流行菜餚。 因這菜餚未經煮熟，所以必須新鮮食用以減少食物中毒的風險 (或自備腹瀉丸)。 圖中的青檸汁醃魚有生魷魚，蝦，和章魚，配以紅薯和芭蕉。
秘魯雞尾酒，採用基班拿葡萄，青檸汁，和生蛋白製成。 就像赤霞珠和霞多麗是葡萄酒的種類一樣，基班拿是秘魯雞尾酒生產中使用的八種葡萄其中之一。
就像三藩市灣區大部分的地方一樣，這餐廳有點貴 (在拉丁美洲品嚐這菜餚是挺便宜的)。 儘管如此，桌上放著青檸汁醃魚和秘魯雞尾酒，背景播放著秘魯音樂，感覺就像在秘魯一樣 (只要不要望出窗外，因為對面就是前往三藩市的火車， 肯定會令你的秘魯夢幻滅)。要不然， 我給這個體驗十分滿分。
The Spanish menu says “ceviche de pulpo y camarones”, which is just a simple octopus and shrimp ceviche. The highlight though is the drink: Instead of a straight pisco sour, this is a chicha morada sour. Chicha morada is a fermented purple corn drink. Back in the day, prior to the Inca Empire / Machu Picchu time, indigenous tribal people used to chew purple corns in their mouth, utilizing enzymes in their saliva to break down starch into sugar for fermentation to make chicha. Although I am not sure if people still do this these days, the thin layer of raw egg white floating atop the drink makes it impossible to tell if it is just egg white or saliva. I guess I will never know.
菜單上用西班牙語寫著 “ceviche de pulpo y camarones”，一個普通的青檸汁醃章魚和蝦，亮點在飲料中：這不是純 pisco sour，而是 chicha morada sour。Chicha morada 是一種經過發酵的紫玉米飲料。很久以前 (印加帝國 / 馬丘比丘時代之前)，土著們會將紫玉米放在口中咀嚼，用唾液中的酵素將澱粉分解成糖發酵來製作chicha。 雖然我不確定現代人是否仍然這樣做，但是因為飲料上漂浮著一層薄薄的生蛋白，所以也無法判斷它有否唾液成份，我想我永遠也不會知道。
