Guide to Peruvian cuisine in Sonoma County

One of the best meals of my life wasn’t in a restaurant. It was on the porch of Peruvian chef Olenka Orjeda, mother of busy twin boys and wife of John Ash general manager Percy Brandon. We sat in the middle of the vineyard on a warm, early spring day drinking Pisco sours, eating and laughing until my stomach ached.

It was a loosely planned affair to introduce me to cuisine of Orjeda’s beloved Peru. So as Orjeda mixed the sours and course after course came to the table, my crash course in ceviches, aji amarillo peppers, choclo corn, quinoa and lucuma commenced.

Though Lima, Peru, is the epicenter of South America’s food culture, Peru’s culinary traditions still seem rather exotic to many Americans. But its mix of Spanish, indigenous, Japanese, Chinese, European and African has made it one of this country’s fastest growing culinary trends, according to Food Business News.

Sonoma County now has three Peruvian restaurants: Sazon, La Perla and the newest, Quinua Cocina Peruana in Petaluma. Sazon, which opened in 2010, has earned a spot in the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand for several years, and La Perla won its first Bib Gourmand in 2016.

But there’s still a learning curve to really delving into this complex cuisine. Lomo saltado (the Peruvian version of steak frites), empanadas and fried yucca are easy winners, but how well do you know leche de tigre, papa a la Huancaina and aji de gallina?

Armed with memories of my perfect lunch, a fork, a notepad and the intrepid Orjeda (who isn’t afraid to give her honest opinion), I headed for a meal at Quinua Cocina Peruana, something I won’t soon forget.

Papa a la what?

The most challenging things about a Peruvian menu are the dishes. At Quinua, even the servers seem to stumble a bit on pronunciations, which is why Orjeda was a gift. She ordered like a pro, explaining how the dish should be prepared authentically: Ceviche should never have red bell peppers on it, Peruvian potatoes should be yellow (not white), and god forbid your rice is bland.

Quinua’s open kitchen makes it easy to see how the dishes are made, and owner Juan Gutierrez has enlisted his father and several other Peruvian chefs to make sure the food is as authentic as possible. In fact, it’s so authentic that Gutierrez showed us something we’ve never seen in Sonoma County: Cuy.

This Andean delicacy (guinea pig) is as real as Peruvian food gets and actually isn’t on the menu, imported frozen for connoisseurs. We’ve only heard rumors of it elsewhere.

Another signature Peruvian dish, ceviche, is on the menu and is especially worth trying. Go for the ceviche mixto ($19), which is tilapia or cod “cooked” in lime juice, mixed with clams, shrimp, squid and red onions. Served with Peruvian corn (the Incredible Hulk of the maize family) and sweet potatoes, it’s clean, fresh and addictive. Feel free to ask for a spoon (or a martini glass if you’re brave) to slurp the “leche de tigre,” the marinating liquid that’s as good as any cocktail. Really.

The other thing you must order is chicha morada, a sort of nonalcoholic sangria made with purple corn. Authentically, Orjeda said, it should have cinnamon and other spices, with chunks of fruit. Quinua’s was a good approximation and thoroughly refreshing.

Learn to love ?cold potatoes

Peru is the birthplace of the potato, and to prove it, the country has preserved more than 5,000 varieties at the International Potato Center in Lima. So when it comes to knowing how to cook and serve a solid tuber, Peruvians have centuries of experience. What takes a little getting used to is eating them cold, sliced or mashed.

Papa a la Huancaina ($8) are sliced yellow potatoes (less starchy, creamier) smothered with Hauancaina sauce, a little slice of heaven made with cream, cheese and a Peruvian yellow pepper that’s more spice than heat. Even better is Causa Colonial ($9), with scoops of mashed potato, aji amarillo and barbecued octopus. Orjeda-approved.

The main dish

What will surprise you most are the Peruvian dishes that feel so familiar: Lomo saltado (sautéed beef with soy sauce and fries, $20), Tallarine Verde (pesto linguine, $19) or Arroz Chaufa (fried rice). That’s part of the beautiful melting pot of Peruvian cuisine.

We’re more fond of less familiar dishes like Aji de Gallina ($18), shredded chicken breast in a creamy aji amarillo sauce with hard boiled eggs and olives over boiled potatoes and white rice, or Ceviche de Pato ($21), duck marinated in orange juice with rice and yucca. We agreed that both dishes needed a bit more seasoning (a complaint that’s been frequent in the restaurant’s Yelp reviews) but otherwise were solid.

Quinoa can ?taste amazing

Orjeda rues the day Americans discovered quinoa, making this Peruvian grain into a bland superfood rather than giving it the respect it deserves. With quinoa as its namesake, Quinua does this grain well, and the Quinua Solterito ($8) with red and white quinoa, queso fresco and cherry tomatoes was a stunner. Maybe because I usually hate quinoa and was shocked it could have flavor.

Sweet endings

Two words: Manjar Blanco. Better known as dulce de leche (a creamy caramel), Alfajores ($8) are traditional shortbread cookies sandwiching a mouthful of creamy manjar blanco, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Lucuma ice cream, made with a tropical fruit ($7), wasn’t as impressive, and our very favorite Peruvian dessert, Chocojetas, isn’t on the menu. We pretty much die for these little chocolate truffles stuffed with Pisco-soaked raisins or dulce de leche. Maybe they’re in back with the cuy.