Peruvian cuisine is heavily influenced by seafood due to the country’s extensive ocean access. Popular dishes include fish soup, ceviche, and creamy pepper-based sauces served with sauteed tilapia fillets or steamed shellfish. Traditional Peruvian chupes are creamy soups made with fish, potatoes, corn, peas, and beans. Causa is a dish made with a dough made from starchy potatoes and filled with seafood and roasted vegetables. Ceviche is made with raw fish marinated in citrus juice and vegetables.
Peru sits along the western edge of South America, jutting slightly into the South Pacific Ocean. This small country’s extensive ocean access typically directs most of the local cuisine towards seafood. Fish of many types can be harvested fresh and incorporated into local dishes. Some types of Peruvian seafood dishes include various types of fish soup, shellfish, and dozens of different types of raw ceviches.
The high availability of seafood in Peru means that many Peruvian seafood dishes are very simple. Some of these simpler dishes include sauteed tilapia fillets or steamed shellfish. What makes these dishes Peruvian is the creamy pepper-based sauces often served with them. These sauces typically feature a variety of hot peppers, garlic, onions, potatoes, and even citrus juice. Some of the sauces are served on top of the fish, while others are placed in a bowl on the side.
Creamy soups or chupes make up a category of Peruvian seafood dishes that can be found throughout the country. Some of these soups include chicken, but most traditional recipes call for fish. Chupe de camarones, or shrimp soup, is generally one of the local specialties, as is Peruvian clam chowder or fish soup. These soups often use a combination of starchy vegetables, hot spices, and cream to give them rich layers of very deep flavor.
Some traditional starches in chupes include potatoes, corn, peas and beans. A soup can include all four of these ingredients, or it can use just two or three. The cook generally simmers the starches with cream and spices, mashing and blending the starches into a thick broth when they are soft. Seafood is generally not added to a chupe until the dish is nearly done. This helps preserve the texture and flavor of the fish and avoid overcooking.
Causa is another popular Peruvian seafood dish. Cause wraps are made with a dough made from starchy potatoes and native spices. The cook pats the dough into thin discs and fills them with a combination of seafood and roasted vegetables. Chicken and beef can also be used, but crab, tilapia, and shrimp are among the more popular causal fillings. They are often combined with avocados, tomatoes and hot or sweet peppers.
Ceviche is also a very popular Peruvian seafood dish. It is made entirely of raw ingredients, so the fish is never cooked over fire. Most ceviches start with flaked fish fillets or shellfish and chopped citrus juice, which can be any combination of lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit juice. The fish generally marinates in a bowl with the citrus juice and vegetables for about three hours. The acid in the juice basically cooks the fish, similar to pickling. Popular ceviche vegetables include tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Ceviches are often collected and eaten with a kind of thick bread.
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