The Ethnic Taste



I have never been to Peru, don't have any Peruvian friends, and don't know that much about Peru. Despite all that a friend joined me for dinner last night and we dined on Peruvian food at Gran Machu Piccuu . The place was a bit larger than a whole-in-the-wall located in an East Dallas strip center.

After quizzing the waitress, I settled on a classic dish of Peru - Lomito Saltado, a "lean delicately seasoned beef sauteed with onions tomatoes and French cut potatoes - served with rice." (If that's classic Peru, I would venture a guess that the Atkins diet is not wildly popular there.)

Anytime I visit an ethnic restaurant I try to picture myself as a native countryman getting ready for dinner on a Saturday night.

"What are you in the mood for?", I would ask my dinner partner.

He says, "I don't know, how about American?".

"Sounds good," I say and off we go to...where? McDonalds?!

What is American food anyway?

Spaghetti? That's one of my favorites when it's my mother's version using her secret ingredients. Doesn't count, it's Italian. Pizza? Italian again. Pot roast? Maybe. Is it turkey and dressing?

Growing up in the south, I would argue that traditional American is BBQ and chicken-fried steak. However, I just can't picture Peruvians seeking out a local chicken-fried steak place on Saturday night.

It seems that for better or worse there is one food most recognized as the symbol of American cuisine - the hamburger. It may not be fair to use the word cuisine and hamburger in the same sentence, but you get the idea. Even though the hamburger is a worldwide symbol of American culture, we're certainly not the first to have thought of the idea of eating a patty-shaped piece of meat, with or without the bun.

Linda Stradely, author of "I'll Have What They're Having - Legendary Local Cuisine," explains that even the famous conqueror Genghis Khan and his army, known as the "Golden Horde," consumed meat patties, but with a definite mongolian twist to it. The patties, made of ground lamb or mutton, were placed under their saddles while they rode into battle and were eaten raw with the meat having been tenderized by the time spent between the saddle and the horse.

I'll take a Big Mac, two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onion on a sesame seed bun, thank you.

Posted: Sun - December 5, 2004 at 10:43 AM          

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