Souveniers from Peru

Some tastes to take away and souveniers to remember Peru by.

Our friend Yen was far more adventurous than we were by the looks of some of her photos.

Charqui > If you like beef jerky in the states (or peperami* in England) then you are in for a treat in the Andes. It was the foodtech-savvy Incans who actually invented "charqui" which is what we now know as beef jerky and the word jerky is a derivative of this Quechua word for dried meat. It was typically made of dried alpaca or lama meat back then. Today various forms and preparations of charqui exist in the Andes with the meat of animals such as cows, pigs, and horses.

*Peperami was a “charqui” dried spiced sausage originally manufactured by Unilever for the German market. When the company accidentally sent a shipload to England that was mis-labeled pate, they tried to sell off the shipment by branding it “peperami” which turned into an accidental success.

Coca Tea > The coca leaf helped us in the more strenuous high and low altitudes of the Tren del Sierra and the trek in the Colca Canyon by calming the stomach and alleviating headaches and nausea. A box of coca tea costs next to nothing. However I'm not sure how legal it is to bring too much of this out of the country since coca leaves are what cocaine is made from. Apparently traces of the drug are detectable in your system for two weeks after drinking the tea too.

Also available to take home in your suitcase is a packaged version of Chicha, as previously mentioned in the food blog. Or you could do worse than to part with Inca Cola – a toxic-neon coloured soda that tastes like sweet pineapple.

Alpaca and Llama Wool > We had our own mission. Some of the finest wool in the world can be found in both Peru and Bolivia. Steph was on a hunt to find her Mum some Alpaca wool to knit with. We didn't have many leads to go on in Lima during our last few days. After asking maybe a dozen people around town, we finally made it to where the locals buy their wool, as well as hang out to knit and compare notes. Mission accomplished.