The largest gastronomic fair in Peru, Mistura, opens its doors today for everyone’s pleasure, foreigners and Peruvians, for its last day this year. From 10 AM gigantic lines form of people waiting to get into this majestic world of flavor. It is worth the wait.
Once inside we find information booths whose pamphlets have guide maps for Mistura. They specify the places where the country’s best restaurants are located as well as its scattered food carts. With our map in hand we can begin our visit.
Mistura is divided into different types of cuisine. There are recognized restaurants, local favorites (guariques), rustic kitchens, and the corner of sweets. We also find a market, bar, as well as chocolate, coffee, and pisco centers.
In each of these are found some of the finest restaurants, bars, and pastry shops of Peru. They put on display and serve the best expressions of Peruvian food. We can find everything from the classic Peruvian ceviche, spicy and refreshing, to pork on a stick. We also find the classical dishes of the Peruvian highlands, as well as the picarones, mazamorras (a type of pudding,) and anticuchos (skewers,) typical of Lima’s night life. We cannot forget the amazing Peruvian drinks that are also on offer.
In Mistura, all the dishes are stars in this great event. Our iconic drinks also make people vibrate with joy. They put in the batteries so that all the lovers of good food turn on with pleasure. You can try a pisco sour made with different fruits, Peru’s famous chilcano, and various cocktails made from pisco, the liquor that represents Peru to the world.
Continuing with our visit, we arrive at the sweetest part of Mistura, the area of desserts. Here cacao is the lead. From this great bean we can make and infinity of desserts. They have captivated the world ever since cacao was first discovered by the indigenous people of America.
On Mistura’s map we also find directions to the gigantic market where our entire country is present. Stands that represent all the departments (states) of our country and show what they produce. There are people there who explain to us how to use them. We slso find flyers and pamphlets which include nutritional information to show the value of these regional foods for our diet. In this section the focus, this year, is on Andean grains. Here quinoa, kiwicha, and cañiwa lead out.
The public can visit the 164 stands of the market which represents the traditional fairs and public markets of the cities and towns that cross our geographically diverse country. You can obtain products such as native potatoes and fruit from the coast, highlands, and jungle.
There is also an area for foreign foods that have energetically arrived in Peru. They have captured the palates of all Peruvians. These include Chinese food and Japanese (Nikkei) food, Arabic food, Italian and Mexican cuisines.
Long lines form at all the stands. But all of this has a great reward, the delicious and varied food.
The novelty this year is that this year one can obtain a card with which to pay. It is specifically made for Mistura, thanks to the BBVA Continental bank, in order to faciliatate payment.
In the grand auditorium, the finest chefs of Peru as well as the greatest of the world give lectures and talks every day for the young cooks. These words are important. They motivate the next generation and help them open to new techniques and improvements.
This year, the international chefs with the greates recognition at Mistura are the great master of pastry, the Spaniard Paco Torreblanca –he has won an award as the best pastry chef of Europe — and his fellow Spaniard Joan Roca, who is recognized as one of the most influential chefs of the world.
Every year, Mistura makes reality the dreams of thousands of culinary students. It puts before them the greatest chefs of the world and is, as a result, an amazing contribution tot he progress of Peruvian gastronomy.
But Mistura is not only for professionals of the culinary world. It is a great option for all the family, as well as an adventure to enjoy with family, friends, or work mates. There you can enjoy food, drink, and music.
There are large spaces filled with tables where you can rest from the trail of taste and share a moment of joy while taking photos to share and keep the memory alive in coming months.
We should not forget the grand show which every day closes Mistura with the golden brush of Peru’s music. It is a first class spectacle. What else could we want.
Mistura is also a safe place because it has a medical clinic, a firehouse, and ambulances which are all on the watch for any emergency. One also find hygenic services in strategic points to keep people comfortable.
Mistura is a marvelous fiesta. There Peruvian gusto is celebrated, since every day now it is surprising the rest of the world. All of Peru’s people, its races, and families are there with a single purpose, that of bring Peru together and spreading its culinary culture to the whole world. It also resurrects and teaches our thousands of years old customs that are part of the heritage of famlies in every corner of our large country.
Today is the last day of Mistura for this year. If you haven’t been, it is worth it. But we all can join in the anxious wait for next year when this world representing all of Peru will come again with new things and wonderful discoveries. Thank you Mistura.
