Iconic Dishes of Peruvian Cuisine!

Causas
Causas, prepared with mashed yellow potatoes, originally meant any flavored mashed potato. The potato mash was historically flavored with yellow peppers, cilantro or both. Over time, a variation developed, where the mashed potatoes were put into the bottom of a ring mold. then filled with meat or seafood filling in the center of the mold, with more potatoes placed on top, creating three separate layers within the mold. When the mold is removed, an attractive single serving portion is revealed. Additional condiments often crown the causa, and they are typically served in restaurants as appetizer, with three or four causas per plate.
Papas a la Huacaina
Papas a la Hauncaína is a popular Peruvian appetizer consisting of large pieces of boiled yellow potatoes (similar to Yukon gold potatoes) drenched in a sauce made of queso fresco (a soft creamy cheese popular throughout Latin America), evaporated milk, minced yellow chili peppers, and spices. The dish is sometimes served hot, similar to Spanish-style Papas Bravas, or cold over a lettuce garnished with black olives.
Papa Rellena
The papa rellena (stuffed potato) consists of a spicy minced-meat filling, surrounded by sheath of firm, mashed potatoes, then fried or deep fried, rendering the exterior slighly crunchy.
Ceviche
Ceviche, a crude seafood preparation, where the seafood denatures in a spicy citric lime marinade until no longer transluscent, then served cold with any number of garnishes in the lime marinade, called "leche de tigre". Sometimes an appetizer, sometime a main course. Always a favorite.
Tacu-Tacu
Tacu-Tacu is a mixture of rice and beans formed into a pancake-like patty, similar to a potato latke or rosti. These starchy pancakes often serve as the foundation of a dish, on which proteins, sauces and vegetables are added.
Anticuchos de Corazon at Tanta
Anticuchos de Corazón (skewered beef hearts) are, perhaps, the most popular street-food in Lima. They’re sold by street vendors outside local markets and sporting events. You can also find anticuchos at many restaurants throughout the city.
Ají de Gallina
Ají de Gallina is a creamy stew made with chicken, yellow chili peppers, walnuts, garlic, turmeric and various spices. Its bright yellow color is its most striking characteristic. The dish is believed to have been concocted by African slaves in the 16th century and brought to Peru by Spanish settlers. It is traditionally served with white rice, a hard-boiled egg and black olives.
Maki (Sushi Roll) Acevichado
Traditional sashimi and sushi can be found in Lima’s Nikkei restaurants, but fusion-variations on the Japanese maki (sushi roll) are more prevalent. The North American variations, like the California or Philadelphia roll can also be found in most Nikkei restaurants. But the Nikkei chefs came up with their own unique renditions, the most notable being the Sushi Roll Acevichado, which is a sushi roll, utilizing the ingredients of a ceviche at the center of the roll, and a sauce, similar to what might be found on a tiradito, poured over the top.
Tiraditos
Tiraditos are thin, almost translucent slices of raw fish, usually a white fish, salmon or a variety of tuna, that is laid flat in a symmetrical circle around the plate, in the Japanese style known as usuzukuri, with the addition of sauce, usually made with lime juice and one of several chili peppers used in Peruvian cuisine.
Pan con Chicharrón
In Perú, chicharrón is pork (usually a fatty cut such as pork belly) that’s boiled in spices then deep-fried until the fat and skin is fully rendered with a crisp exterior. It became a popular street-food in Lima and subsequently the central ingredient in a popular type of sandwich, Pan con Chicharrón, served with the addition of a slice of sweet-potato on a French roll.
Butifarra
The Butiffara is a sandwich made from boiled pork bathed in spicy sauce and served with mustard, lettuce and thin slices of purple onion on a French roll. These iconic sandwiches are served at sangucherías throughout the city and by street vendors accompanied by a cup of strong coffee or a cup of chicha morada, a fermented corn beverage.
Ponderacion
Thin sheets of dough (just barely thicker than phyllo) are cut into long 1-inch strips and then wrapped in a spiral creating a pinwheel. They are baked until crisp drizzled or drenched in manjar blanco (a mild, creamy white form of dulce de leche, called "manjar" in Peru) then adorned with fruit, cinnamon, and/or sugar to create a delectible pastry.
Suspiro Limeño
The Suspiro Limeño is the most recoginized dessert in Lima and other cities in Peru. It's on the vast majority of restaurant menus. It's a mousse-like creamy concoction based on an early stage of creating dulce de leche (known in Peru and Chile as "manjar") as the browning of the condensed milk barely reaches a beige tint. It's topped with slightly charred merengue. A delectible, sweet indulgence.