So I guess Peruvian cuisine is getting a little more recognition within the US gourmet scene as evidenced in Gilt Taste's offerings of organic Peruvian products that include things that are exotic even to most Peruvians (Pussac Punay and Kañiwa?). I was glad to see a collection of ají pastes that include ají amarillo (the backbone of Peruvian cuisine), ají limo (for ceviches), and ají panca (Peru's answer to chipotle). Ají is what us Peruvians call chili peppers (chiles for Mexicans). There is also a selection of dried ají powders, which I've never had experience with, but considering that 99.9% of Peruvian cuisine - regardless of the region - uses fresh ají, I wouldn't recommend the powders.
There are also a lot of flours and grains offered, like quinoa, kiwicha (amaranth), purple corn flour, and others. While some of these products are not representative of products Peruvians actually use, it is interesting to see that such native products are being cultivated and packaged and will probably go to use in the nouveau Peruvian cuisine that is coming into its own these days but has yet to conquer the world like other ethnic cuisines have. It might just be an issue of marketing, although I think that the issue is much deeper than that and has a lot to do with how non-Latin Americans view Latin American cuisine drawn from their experiences with Mexican and Caribbean cuisines, which have nothing to do with Peruvian cuisine. You'll probably read more of my thoughts on contemporary Peruvian cuisine in the future, but for the mean time, check out the Peruvian products on sale at Gilt Taste, as well as their well-chosen selection of other gourmet products (I'm ogling the molecular gastronomy pantry items....maybe it's the year to experiment with xanthan gum and soy lecithin)
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