After spending a month in Peru, there was one thing that I knew I wanted to do while in Arequipa – take a cooking class. Since Arequipa is a large city that sees a lot of tourists, there were many options for us as I was researching where to go. Reading another couple’s travel blog article about their experience at a cooking class in Arequipa, we decided upon Peruvian Flavor, ran out of a hotel restaurant by Chef Arthur. We arrived at the hotel and were shortly after guided into the kitchen where the chef awaited us.

Arthur’s restaurant in Arequipa.

After putting on our red aprons, Chef Arthur led us through the two recipes that we would be making: fish ceviche and lomo saltado, both typical dishes that we had been eating all throughout our travels in Peru. We received recipes and instructions, as well as a few professional tips on what types of ingredients we could buy in the USA, what we can substitute, and if we want to make a variation on the recipe.

Three stations were set up in the kitchen, one for each of us. Chef Arthur demonstrated each step of the process and showed us the proper way to hold a knife, techniques for cutting and chopping vegetables, and suggestions for the types of different foods we could use. After watching him complete each step, we would return to our stations to practice and prepare the food for our dishes.

Chef Arthur demonstrated each step of the recipe and gave us tips on how to hold our knife, how to stand, how to make various cuts, and more! He was a great teacher!

We first assembled all of the ingredients needed for both recipes and then proceeded to make the fish ceviche. While we have eaten ceviche in each country that we have visited so far on our trip, this was the first that we learned how to make. Peruvian ceviche typically comes with a couple slices of sweet potato, a generous portion of fish (which has been “cooked” in a mixture of lime juice, herbs, oil, and onion), toasted corn, slices of red onion, and tiger’s milk (a mix of herbs, onion, garlic, ginger, celery, water, and a small slice of raw fish). Even though I had a bit too much chili in my dish, I still loved eating the ceviche, knowing that I had made it myself!

Mixing the fish with lime juice, herbs, and other ingredients for our ceviche!

The next course that we made was the lomo saltado. This can be made with either beef or alpaca meat, the latter of which was used in our class. This is a simple dish, comprised of the meat sautéed in a mixture of soy sauce, red vinegar, and herbs then flambeed with pisco (the national liquor of Peru). Once this is ready, chunky tomatoes and onions are added and cooked. The dish is usually served with both rice and French fries, although in our class we only made the French fries since we already know how to make rice. Since this dish requires a flambe with flames over the stove, I’ll probably leave it to Jon the next time we make this; I got too nervous and Chef Arthur had to come over and help me a couple of times!

If you can’t tell by the picture, I was a little nervous to be cooking with the flames on the stove! Jon was a pro!

In addition to the two dishes that we prepared and ate, we also got to sample two Peruvian drinks: a non-alcoholic juice called chicha morada made from purple corn and an alcoholic drink called chilcano made with pisco. With all the food that we made and the drinks, we left feeling full and satisfied, ready for a nap!

The finished product! I thought our ceviche turned out pretty good for our first attempt!

Taking this cooking class was definitely a highlight of our time in Peru. I’m glad that we took the class toward the end of our time, because we had had time to learn all about the cuisine and sample a lot of different dishes beforehand. We were excited to learn how to make two of our favorites and cannot wait to recreate these for our families after our trip!

After each dish was finished, we got to sit down to eat and enjoy! This is the lomo saltado that we made, although couldn’t finish since we were already getting full!