Eating Alpaca

This traditional Andean meat lends itself well to traditional preparations as well as innovative treatments, and should be on any traveler's food bucket list.

Peru’s most prized export is alpaca fiber, which can be treated like wool in order to make knit products arguably as good as, or better than, cashmere. In contrast, alpaca meat is not very well-known internationally, although it is currently making some incursions into the U.S. market. In Peru, alpaca is considered a special meat, which is prized for its delicious flavor but often relegated to special occasions. As a lean red meat, which offers high amounts of flavor but less fat than beef, alpaca deserves to be more well-known. This is why we dedicate a full section of the Pirwa Restaurant menu to alpaca.

Traditional Peruvian Dishes, Prepared with Alpaca

There aren’t many traditional dishes that feature alpaca, as many locals enjoy this prized meat in its simplest preparation: merely grilled. While this is certainly on offer at Pirwa Restaurant, we also offer traditional dishes in which alpaca replaces other ingredients.

For example, if you enjoy the Chinese-Peruvian banner dish, Lomo Saltado, you might want to try Saltado de Alpaca. As in the original dish, strips of meat and vegetables are sautéed in a soy and wine sauce and served over French fries, but the meat has been upgraded to alpaca.

If you’re familiar with the Peruvian dish papas a la huancaína, potatoes in a sauce from the Huancayo region, then you’ll recognize sauce in our Alpaca in Andean Sauce dish. In our opinion, this creamy traditional sauce, which takes its yellow color from spicy chili peppers, encapsulates some of the best aspects of Peruvian cooking, and shouldn’t be relegated to just covering potatoes!

Another dish which can be easily reinterpreted using alpaca are the beef heart skewers known as anticuchos. These are a popular street food throughout Peru, as simple as they are delicious. The secret is the marinade which they are brushed repeatedly with while cooking. When preparing our Alpaca Skewers, we put anticuchera sauce to good use in order to flavor our own version.

Finally, there’s Alpaca a la Norteña, whose inspiration lies in those green dishes that northern Peru is famous for. Peruvian beef stew is often green, as is lamb stew. Even Peruvian rice and chicken is green. This is because they’re all based on the same mother sauce, which includes large amounts of cilantro for flavor and color. If you’re a fan of this popular herb, then you’ll find plenty to like in Peruvian cuisine, and also in our dish, which is made with grilled alpaca, squash, peas and carrots, and the aforementioned creole cilantro sauce.

Alpaca Dishes Inspired by International Cuisine

One of the biggest movements in Peruvian cuisine in the last decade has been the rise of Novo Andino, fusion cooking which involves reinterpreting international dishes with the ingredients at hand.

Some of the world’s best known French and Italian dishes can be prepared with alpaca, adding a touch of the exotic to your familiar favorites. You’ll find the following options at Pirwa Restaurant:

• Alpaca Cordon Blue: Alpaca tenderloin stuffed with ham and cheese, glazed in an herb and red wine sauce, served with potato casserole
• Peppered Alpaca: Grilled alpaca tenderloin in a pepper sauce, served with golden potatoes and vegetables in vinaigrette
• Alpaca Saltimboca: Grilled alpaca stuffed with cheese and ham and bathed in an aguaymanto sauce, served with mashed potatoes
• Alpaca Filet Migñon: Grilled alpaca in a mushroom sauce, served with mozzarella broccoli gratin and french fries.
• Alpaca in Adean Fruits: Grilled alpaca in a sauce of rosé and Andean fruits, served with spinach puree
• Alpaca Plus: Alpaca in a mushroom sauce, served with potato gratin and pickled vegetables

Fecha de Publicación: 04/06/2016