Pepino

I had never before seen a yellow fruit striped with purple stripes. Neither had I eaten such a fruit. Logic aside, the pepino is a delicious fruit, filled with juice and flavor when appropriately ripe. I packed a couple of these in my bag as I had a feeling that I would desire something sweet and juicy when I set down to take-in Machu Picchu from on high. This fruit has a similar flavor to a cucumber--hence they share the same name in Spanish. However, the skin / flesh dynamic renders no bitterness in the fruit as it sometimes will with the vegetable. More sweet than flavorful, it makes a good snack when thirsty!

All The Little Guinea Pigs Go "Squeal"

All hale the mighty Cuy. Yes, In a few select places in South America the custom is to eat guinea pig. It's nearly a complete meal of skin, cooked via the oven or fried. Yum. The flavor is subcutaneous fat and nickel-y, mineral-y little organs. I devoured this little guy in a town called Aguas Calientes--just below Machu Picchu.

When in El Salvador...

Recently I traveled to a seaport roughly an hour outside of San Salvador, and I had the chance to--once again--manger des fruits de mer. This ceviche was comprised of raw muscles--the kind that wiggle in the bowl because they're still alive! Fresh shrimp, baring a feint taste of volcanic sandy beaches and the brine tumultuous sea foam. A student warned me against the ceviche because of the red tide--her fault was hubris which ultimately will have affected her life more negatively than mine. I'm the one who dared to eat something beyond her comprehension. The reward? A satisfied curiosity, a good story to tell.

Das Gute Bier

I was passing through Valdivia, Chile--a bastion of German settlements in South America. I was in search of my beloved Chilean domestic brew and it's source. I ordered two biers in what the brewery had designated as 'mas' sized mugs. There were probably four bottle-sized beers in each 'mas'. I order the unfiltered lager (holy cow), and the one made with honey. Here's the scoop: Glacial melt, rivers, patagonia, streams, wildflowers, wild bees, natural honey sources, all grains grown in patagonia, hops are imported from Germany, etc. These are a few of my favorite things. This is why the Kuntsmann slogan is, "Kuntsmann: Das Gute Bier". Oh yeah, and the meal was streusel cooked in traditional German fashion, TOPPED with slow-simmered venison in a beer gravy.

Bessie

My friend and I were on the island of Chiloé in search of penguins (on the occidental shores of the island). Of course these beautiful cows were living the life of any ordinary grazing animal--and naturally we were drawn to their majestic spots. We were offered the chance to take some coffee and asked for milk. Guess where the milk came from! The background on the milk is this: island dwelling cattle grazing naturally abundant grass grown in relatively new soil churned from the bowels of Earth and disseminated via volcanic ash enriching the soil. This milk tasted like every element in the process by which it was made. We had the privilege of drinking this milk before pasteurization. One can only imagine the grassy butteriness and the slightly acidic tang present in a cool glass of this white bovine nectar...

Pupuseria

I traveled to San Salvador (El Salvador) in the Summer of 2007 and was introduced to pupusas. These delicious iconic morsels (similar to memelitas of Southern México) are filled with many different things which range from special local vegetables normally only found in El Salvador, and other varieties of meats. There is a condiment which accompanies them and it is similar to a salsa. There is also another condiment made with cabbage. Great with sweet soft drinks.

The Tamal of My Eye

In Cochabamba (Bolivia), it's safe to say that food tastes better. This tamal was simple enough: the freshest sweet maíz, salty and buttery white cheese, a little lard, and it was steamed in its own 'green' husk. Sustainable? I think so. I've never had food anywhere else in the world where the natural flavors are so mind-blowing as to outmatch the food in Bolivia. One grows nostalgiac for such flavors in times of hunger and nothing quite seems to compare.