COOKING WITH 5000 YEARS OF PERUVIAN CUISINE 5000 YEARS OF PERUVIAN CUISINE COOKING WITH PERUVIAN AVOCADO COMMISSION Enrique Camet Chairman Xavier Fco. Equihua President & CEO 717 D Street, NW Suite 310 Washington, D.C. 20004 phone (202) 626-0560 fax (202) 393-5728 [email protected] www.avocadosfromperu.com PROHASS Jimmy Bosworth Chairman Arturo Medina Managing Director Partner Association in Peru Nicolás Arriola 314 Of.1101 La Victoria, Lima Peru Phone (511) 225-1626 [email protected] www.prohass.com.pe PRESENTATION..........................................................................4 Foreword....................................................................................8 Introduction..............................................................................10 Unveiling the secret of Peru........................................................12 The Summer Avocado .................................................................14 Tips & selection..........................................................................16 Step by step...............................................................................18 Eat healthy, not heavy................................................................20 Ingredients in Peruvian cuisine....................................................24 Historical chapters......................................................................32 Part 1 ........................................................................................24 Part 2........................................................................................44 RECIPES..................................................................................54 A Artichoke and avocado soup.....................................................92 Avocado and fried egg on toast..............................................86 Avocado hummus with pita bread crisps....................................76 Avocado pesto and cherry tomato crostini.................................80 Avocado stuffed with chicken..................................................64 Avocado, sautéed shrimp and mixed greens salad....................120 Avocado, yogurt, shrimp, and hearts of palm terrine....................130 Avodog............................................................................112 C Causa rellena (layered potato tower).........................................62 Causa roll with ceviche.............................................................60 Ceviche with avocado...............................................................96 P Ceviche sampler.........................................................................88 Pita pocket with avocado and quinoa salad................................116 Cold rice ...................................................................................102 Cream cheese, caramelized rocoto chili, and avocado roll..........78 Q Cream of avocado and shrimp soup..........................................68 Quinotto with avocado and breaded shrimp..............................104 Creamy chicken with rice and avocado salad...........................108 Cube salad...............................................................................122 R Cucumber, celery, tuna, walnut, avocado, and cilantro salad.....124 Raspberry, avocado, and passion-fruit parfait.............................136 Rice paper rolls with avocado, shrimp, and basil...........................132 G Roast beef, avocado, and roasted vegetable wrap..................114 Green and white pasta with avocado sauce...........................98 Grilled chicken fillets with mixed greens, avocado....................126 S Grilled salmon over avocado and cilantro puree.......................128 Salmon and avocado tiradito.....................................................82 Guacamole with chifles..............................................................74 Savory crepe cake.......................................................................94 Seared tuna with watercress and avocado...................................90 H Shrimp-stuffed avocados au gratin............................................70 Hamburgers with fried egg, tomato, lettuce, and avocado.......110 Smoked salmon, blue cheese, avocado, and mixed greens salad....118 M T Meatballs with avocado-cilantro guacamole.............................100 Tequeños (Peruvian cheese sticks) with guacamole.....................56 Tilapia with rustic mashed potatoes and avocado........................106 N Triple-decker sandwich................................................................58 Novoandino fried fish sticks with avocado salad........................66 Tuna and avocado toasts.............................................................84 Turkey roll, mixed greens salad with avocado dressing...............134 O Oatmeal avocado walnut cookies...............................................138 Foreword The contents of this book exemplify the objectives of the Peruvian Avocado Commission (PAC) in conjunction with its sister association in Peru, Prohass, to promote Peruvian avocados and their many nutritional benefits. We invite you to discover the history of this fruit from Peru’s rich culinary heritage and enjoy it with the recipes presented here. AVOCADOS FROM PERU AVOCADOS The avocado (Persea americana) is a mouth-wateringly creamy-textured fruit of the Lauraceae family. It is thick skinned and has a single large seed called a pit. Its meaty, light-green flesh has many culinary uses, although it can also be enjoyed with just a bit of sugar or salt. COOKING WIYH 8 PRESENTATION Avocados are also very nutritious. They are rich in monounsaturated fat, making them very heart-healthy. Avocados have no sodium or cholesterol and provide nearly 20 important vitamins and nutrients. Of all the world’s many varieties of avocados, the Hass is by far the most popular. Grown on coastal plains and mountainsides, Peruvian Hass avocados thrive in a favorable, frost-free climate. Thanks to Peru’s proximity to the equator, the plantations benefit from long sunny days, moderate rains, and a temperate climate. The rich sandy soils irrigated with pure mountain water produce the most delicious avocados on Earth. Peru’s primary avocado production areas are La Libertad, Lima, Ancash, Ica, and Junín. The unique combination of land and climate is responsible for the delicious flavor that makes Peruvian Hass avocados the world’s favorite. In fact, Peru is the largest exporter to Europe and the second largest to the United States, with approximately 150,000 tons per year between the two markets. Thanks to Peru’s location in the Southern Hemisphere, Peruvian Hass avocados are available from June through September, during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer and are therefore ideal for enjoying with typical refreshing summer fare. Enrique Camet Jimmy Bosworth Chairman Chairman Peruvian Avocado Commission ProHass Approximately 5,000 years ago, in the desert north of what is now Lima (today, the province of Barranca in the Supe district), the Caral culture lived in all its splendor. In the shadows of their numerous pyramids, the ancient inhabitants enjoyed the many benefits of the Peruvian avocado. This was the same time (3000 B.C.) that the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations were developing in the East, and other cultures were arising in what is today China and India. As a reference, the Olmec and Chavín cultures did not appear in the Americas until 1000 A.D. The Sacred City of Caral-Supe is the oldest city known in the Americas; it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Center in 2009. Archaeologists tell us that its residents used gourds as containers, bottles, cups, and plates and that they also used carved wooden spoons, stone mortars, and mollusk shells. Its economy was based on fishing—they primarily collected anchovies, mussels, and clams—as well as agriculture, including foods such as avocados, beans, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, corn, achiras (edible canna lily), potatoes, peanuts, chili peppers, pacay, guavas, and more. And with all of those ingredients, the ancient peoples of Peru began to give shape to the culinary traditions the country enjoys today. Later cultures, such as the Moche and Lima in the Pachacama zone, also cultivated avocados and other vegetables. And although there is no record of them being used as an ingredient in prepared dishes, we do know that the residents of the Incan Empire ate avocados, sliced, with salt or honey. When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they marveled at the fruit, which chronicler Bernabé Cobo described as “tender, buttery, and very soft,” and said that his compatriots sliced unripe avocados thinly and brined them as a substitute for olives. In Peru, the Spanish found a well-established cuisine with dishes such as chupes, locros, ajiacos, lahuas, huatias, uchus, humitas, and the pachamanca, which was prepared in a pit over hot rocks. It was clearly a native cuisine that had developed long before its first encounter with European influences. The Conquistadors built upon these dishes by adding their own ingredients and preparations, as did the Africans, Italians, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants who followed, making Peruvian cuisine the veritable melting pot that so fascinates the world today. Xavier Fco. Equihua Arturo Medina President & CEO Managing Director Peruvian Avocado Commission ProHass AVOCADOS FROM PERU AVOCADOS COOKING WIYH 12 PRESENTATION Although we know that avocados were a prized fruit as far back A.D.), although