Peruvian Cookbook: Enjoy the Taste of 100 Traditional and New Peruvian Cuisine

by Kate Princeton Johnson

Peru is a versatile and culturally rich country because of its rich history, depth of culture and migration. The cooking of modern day resolves around three customary staples, such as chile peppers, potatoes and corn. These three ingredients may sound underwhelming, but their combination is important in several native Peru dishes. Undoubtedly, these simple ingredients will become a delight for your taste buds. Peru has also strong Spanish influence; therefore, you can see poultry, fish and pork in their cooking regime along with Spanish cooking methods.

Inside you will find:

Short introduction part
100 Tasty Recipes

Each recipe is famous for its delicate taste and for its ability and variety to integrate the influence from several cultures and times. Peruvian cuisine reflects local practices and ingredients including influences mainly from the indigenous population, including the Inca, and cuisines brought by immigrants from Europe (Spanish cuisine, Italian cuisine, German cuisine), Asia (Japanese cuisine and Chinese cuisine) and Africa. Without the familiar ingredients from their home countries, immigrants modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. This makes Peruvian cuisine one of the most amazing and tasty cuisines in the world. You will definitely enjoy the recipes.

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 11, 2020

Reviews

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book needs a bit more editing and I feel the information provided on the history of Peruvian cooking to be a bit awkwardly written, vague and confusing. I also can not clearly define these as original Peruvian recipes but I can honestly say I do not know that much about Peruvian recipes beyond an old family friend that often cooked for us at gatherings. None of these recipes are foods she cooked. However, I can’t say that she was cooking a traditional Peruvian meal.

So with that said I found the recipes oddly spaced out in the book. At first I felt it was my Arc copy but the book went on sale for free on Amazon so I purchased it.

No editing changes have been made (at least to the Kindle version). Setting these observations aside many of the recipes look interesting and they are not overly complicated I have found several recipes I will definitely make. I do wish the book had pictures I am one of those people (especially when trying a new cooking style) likes to see the finished recipe so I can decide if the meal looks appetizing.

I can’t say this is a bad cookbook. I honestly liked parts of it but the editing errors and awkward writing style is off putting. The recipes are weirdly spaced causing you to have to turn pages to complete short and relatively uncomplicated recipes which I personally don’t like. Combined with the lack of pictures is a big deterrent for me.

With some formatting and editing changes (for ease of cooking) like keeping recipes on either one page or on adjoining pages (and to make it more visually appealing) would do wonders for the overall success of this cookbook.

I received this book from Booksprout for an honest review and have also purchased the book.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Problematic Recipes and Writing

While I am very familiar with Mexican cooking, I am not that familiar with Peruvian cooking. I can't state whether the 100 recipes here are an accurate reflection of traditional and modern Peruvian cuisine. However, the cookbook certainly has problems. It starts with an introductory section that purports to provide information about both the history of Peru and Peruvian cuisine. The writing style is so awkward that it is hard to wade through ("the highlands of the Andean"... really??), let alone take any information from. Here's an example, the first line of the chapter supposedly on the history of Peruvian food: “The Peruvian Gastronomy or cuisine depends on its roots belonged to centuries ago.” I say supposedly because, for some reason, the author spent a lot of time talking about lectins, which are a component of some foods, in that section that was supposed to be about Peruvian cuisine.

The recipe section is divided into a catch-all section first (with things like salsas, creams, and breakfast) and then lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes. The recipes are certainly problematic. The ingredient list isn't always specific enough, like one that simply asked for 1/4 teaspoon of food coloring (not mentioning the color! And why the heck a potato dish would need food coloring, I have no clue...) while others seem very specific, perhaps even certain brands... although the author does not capitalize, so it's hard to tell. The author switches between imperial and metric measure, somewhat willy-nilly and even in the same recipe. Some ingredient amounts definitely are wrong. For instance, one recipe called for 0.06 pound of frozen french fries. Say what? Would that be something, like, one fry? Some ingredients are in packages and cans, but the author doesn't state the size. It would have been great if the author had a more expansive section in the introductory part just about typical ingredients in Peruvian cuisine, including prepackaged products.

As is so typically seen in self-published cookbooks, the ingredient list order is not the same as they are used in the recipe. As some of these do have some pretty lengthy ingredient lists, this could be problematic for a cook. The recipes had other issues, too. The directions are very poorly written, as if someone who is not a native English speaker did so and did not have the book vetted by someone who was. Missing punctuation and even capitalization plague the book. I would have loved to see recipe headnotes so I could better understand how each recipe fits into Peruvian culture and what it means to the people of that country.

Because of all the issues mentioned above, I do not feel like I can recommend this book.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

[Katheyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peruvian Cuisine is a melting pot of culinary tendencies that echoes the multicultural composition of the country, where the native traditional dishes of the Inca blend with culinary tendencies from all over the world: European cuisine from the Spaniard conquerors and later French, Italian and German emigrants, East-Asian traditional food brought in from the Japanese and Chinese, Indian dishes and spices and African traditional dishes. Spanish cooking methods mix with global ingredients and taste to produce a rich, diverse and flavored cuisine that reflects the multicultural identity of the country.

“Peruvian Cookbook” by Kate Princeton Johnson is an easy to follow recipe book that includes one hundred recipes from dips and appetizers, entrée and main dishes to desserts. Each recipe follows a simple pattern: information on cooking time and servings, a list of ingredients, easy to follow direction to prepare the dish and a throughout nutritional information per serving.

This not a book for those looking for a glossy table volume to add to the kitchen decoration; this is a book for all those who are interesting in original, tasty dishes, those who enjoy cooking and those who just want to start by following an easy step-by-step guide with great revenue for their taste buds. After all, cooking is an easy and fulfilling hobby, it’s playful, helps to pass the time, offers a meal in the process, cleans up nicely, and can (and should) be enjoyed over and over again with always different and exciting results.

[Debbie Orazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by this cookbook as Peruvian cuisine is not common where I live. The influences of Spanish and other European cultures, Indian, Chinese and Japanese immigrant cuisines and native Inca traditions sounded delicious.
The recipes I tried were tasty, exotic and yet familiar as well. Though several ingredients will need to be sourced from specialty stores, the recipes are well worth the effort.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.