Mercados and Supermercados

Mercados

Mercado Santa Cruz

In 2015, the New York Times featured Lima in one of its 36 Hours and recommended walking along the Malecón, a 3 mile promenade on the cliffs above the ocean.  If our guide takes us to the Parque del Amor, we could keep on walking north along Malecón Cisneros and Malecón de la Marina, all the way up to the Mercado Municipal "Santa Cruz".  Of course, by walking along the Malecón there won't be any window shopping but the views should be spectacular, as long as it isn't a foggy day, which is how, I hear, Lima gets all its precipitation.

There is a Peruvian, Roberto Viajero Vlogs, who has YouTube videos on the various markets, including Santa Cruz and also the Gran Mercado Mayorista de Lima which is a wholesale market like Corabastos in Bogotá and Central de Abasto in Mexico City.  The Gran Mercado Mayorista has loads of different kinds of potatoes.

Mercado 1 de Surquillo

A market closer to the Casa Andina Select hotel is Mercado #1 de Surquillo, a permanent indoor market, to the northeast of the hotel on the other side of the Via Expresa Paseo de la Republica.  We would walk east on Calle Schell and then turn left (north) on Avenida La Paz, walk 5 blocks to Ave Ricardo Palma, turn right (east) and cross the Via Expresa to Avenida Paseo de la Republica, turn left (north) and go about a block.  That's not too far, is it?  Roberto Viajero Vlogs in his Youtube video says that Surquillo is favored by chefs for ingredients they can't get elsewhere.  Our fast-talking Peruvian chef, Luciano Mazzetti, even has a YouTube video on Surquillo, although he is more interested in the food stalls than he is in the produce.

Lulú

However Luciano does try a lulú, which is not a lulo (also called naranjillo, related to a tomato and common in Colombia) but a small granadilla or passion fruit that is a bit more acidic than the larger sweeter granadilla.  I've tried to look up the scientific name but have had no luck.  We'll have to keep an eye out for it.  In the same segment Luciano tries Panky, (tuna verde in the supermarkets?) which is a cactus fruit high in vitamin C and obviously very sour so it is mainly used in juices.

Cocona

If we are lucky we might be able to find the cocona, Solanum sessiliflorum, which is related to the lulo that you find in Colombia.  It belongs to the same family as potatoes and tomatoes but grows in the Amazon rainforest rather than in the Andes.  We might have better luck finding the cocona in Iquitos and maybe the Explorama Lodges will offer some for breakfast, or at least its juice as many of these tropical fruits are too acidic and seedy to eat straight.

Lúcuma

I should also mention the lúcuma, a very popular Peruvian fruit that smells like butterscotch and that they make into ice cream.  We shouldn't have troubles finding that in Lima.  If you watch this AgroTV video about a lúcuma grower, you will see that lúcuma is not a jungle fruit but is grown along the coast in very dry conditions and belongs to the Zapote family (so it can grow in California!  Here's a video to show you how.).  Remember how the zapote that grew in Fillmore was custard-like without any acidity?  I imagine that is how lúcuma tastes.

Supermercados

We can also check out the fruits at the local supermarkets in Lima.  Sam and Audrey pay a visit to the Wong Supermarket in Miraflores and show us that we can get mate de coca in tea bags to help us with our altitude sickness.  They also have rotisserie chicken ready to go as well as tamales (in banana leaves) and humitas (in corn husks) -- does the hotel have a microwave?  We can wash it all down with Inka Cola.  And then for dessert we can pick up some lucuma ice cream and a box of alfajores!

Do you think I dare bring home some jars of Peruvian chile pastes?  Or some of their packets of instant sauces like Huancaina and Ocopa?  That way you don't see that they are made with evaporated milk and saltines, unless you still have to add those ingredients to the mix...
Perusing the fruits and vegetables on the Wong Supermarket website, everything looks pretty much the same as the U.S. except you can also get granadillas, aguaymanto (uchuvas/ground cherries), maracuyá, papaya, olluco (one of those Andean root vegetables),  yuca, caigua (an Andean vegetable that they stuff), mango, chirimoya, pepino melon (Solanum muricatum from the Andes), lúcuma, and the list goes on and on.  The meats, poultry and fish look the same as in the U.S. except you can get sangrecita.  Hm.  I wonder if they have hot foods to go!