I ATE PERU. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT.

Down in Lima this week working on a fun food story. It's grey and sort of fall-wintry here, which I would have dressed myself for if I was someone who remembered to check the weather before leaving the house (or country). The warmth of my hosts and all the good food they filled me with more than made up for the weather. Can't go into too much detail as I need to save it for the story, but highlights included: the famous anticucho lady and the famous black clam, both seen above. Anticuchos are cow's hearts that are marinated, grilled and served hot on skewers out of little carts like this one that come out at night all over the city. This lady's been in the neighborhood for over thirty years and hers are meant to be some of the best. They were in fact really, really good. Conchas negras are jet-black clams from the north of Peru, used in remarkable looking all-black ceviches or just grilled. Other notable items consumed over the last four days: lungs; stewed tripe; fried blood; chirimpico = a dish of goat's tripe's & goat's blood; kid goat marinated in chicha; devil fish; an interesting sea urchin ceviche; crayfish grilled in a corn husk; guinea pig; fish roe fritter; pork ribs; green Peruvian minestrone; green tamales; pappas rellenas; and on and, I am afraid, on.