#eatPERU
So today's video is going to be a bit of loud one.
We are sitting at a restaurant here in Iquitos called Ari's and it is right across from Plaza
de Armas and there is a lot of tuk tuk traffic rushing by but we're going to be waiting for
a dish.
We're having something called Juane and it takes 45 minutes to prepare.
Now this is a very special dish and it is meant to resemble the head of John the Baptist
on a platter.
So I think it is certainly worth waiting for here in the heat.
But in the meantime we'll be trying some fresh juices as well as some starters.
So I don't know if you can see but Sam is sweating big time over here.
It is a little bit gross.
Like honestly.
Yeah.
So we had to get you a refreshing drink.
Yeah, we're trying to take care of that by getting something called Cremolada.
And that is a little bit like kind of a fruit slushy.
A fruit smoothie.
Yeah.
And we're trying a really regional fruit.
It is called Camu Camu.
And it is cool because when we were cruising down the Amazon we got to visit some land
and some villages that had the camu camu plant and it is kind of shaped really small.
It is sort of like a small little ball.
I heard our guide kind of refer to it as it looks a bit like the yellow tomato.
And it is really sour.
Super sour.
So we'll see if this in cremolada form lives up to its actual fruit.
Well, what do you think?
It is sour but it is more sweet.
It is very sugary.
Lots of sugar has been added.
Yes.
That is the most dominant ingredient in here.
Super concentrated in the camu camu then.
It is a little bit syrupy.
So we've ordered a few starters until the Juane gets here.
And I am having Patacones.
So if you take a look down here it is basically the plantain and it has been kind of smashed
down flat and then fried and it comes with a sauce here.
This looks like the huancaina sauce.
This is piping hot, man.
Mmmm.
How is that?
That is nice.
It is a little salty.
Owe!
It is like a savory plantain but it is so so hot.
And if you take a look at the sauce over here I'm just going to add some of this.
Apparently this is aji.
I've never seen it looking green before but it should be good.
A bit of spice.
Mmmmm.
So that is where the savory salty snack isn't it?
That is spicy.
I'm just burning up here.
I don't know if it is the heat or the spice or what but I'm like on fire.
And what did you get?
And I'm having Maduros Fritos.
Take a look down here.
And that is like the slices of plantain, and unlike yours which is a savory plantain, this
is super sweet.
Yeah, so it gets its name Madura because it is super ripe.
Oh man, this is so good.
I love how, yeah exactly, how ripe these are and how sweet they are.
If I just had a little bit of Rum sauce to pour on that would make the best dessert ever.
Seriously.
Keiko.
Cheering.
Honking.
Keiko.
So one of the reasons it is so loud outside is that there was a rally just happened.
The Presidential elections are coming up in a little while and there was some Keiko supporters
out there.
PPK
Cheering.
Honking.
And there goes the other political party the PPK.
So our Juane has at long last arrived.
If you have a look over here you can see that it comes wrapped in a leaf.
So basically this is a dish that is eaten for the feast of John the Baptist and that
is a feast that is celebrated on June 24th but you can find this dish in restaurants
pretty much everyday of the year.
Like it is a really popular dish.
Yeah, it is really typical of the region isn't it?
Yeah.
It sure is.
I think you can see why it took so long to prepare.
Look at the detail here.
Yeah, so inside it is rice, chicken, a boiled egg and black olives.
That is a huge portion.
Like seriously.
That is enough for two people to share.
And we've already been eating a lot of food.
Yeah.
Alright, time to dig in and try that.
So looking down here I've got a piece of something.
Apparently it is chicken.
It does not look like chicken to me.
But yeah, it is just the dark part of the chicken.
It is the darker meat of the chicken.
Mmmmm.
That is really good.
Savory, salty and you can taste a lot of the different herbs that have been mixed in with
the rice.
Time for your first bite.
Okay.
I'm going to go for the egg and the rice.
Egg and rice combo coming up.
Oh, big bite.
Gotta like it.
Yeah, wow.
Really nice.
There is a lot of spices mixed in with the rice so it is actually really quite savory
and salty like you were saying.
And also another interesting fact about this dish is that it used to be really popular
with travelers who were going on long journeys because of the way it is packaged.
Basically it travels really well and it can last a longtime.
So yeah, I like this.
Honestly, it seems like the kind of dish you'd want to eat on a cold day back at home.
You know, it is like really hearty and savory but it so frickin' hot here so I'm not sure.
I was going to say there is not too many of those days here in Iquitos.
But it is nice.
I would recommend trying it if you find yourself here.
And someone over here simply could not resist dessert.
Yeah, we decided we're going to order something and we wanted to try something we've never
had before so we got something called Leche Asada.
And apparently it is a milk based dessert that has been cooked in the oven and you can
see like the top part is caramelized kind of.
So let's dig in.
Oh, it has the consistency kind of sort of like a rice pudding or maybe a flan.
But it is just milk apparently.
It is really sweet.
And milky.
Hahaha.
Surprise.
And last but not least let's talk about the price of this meal.
Yeah, so our feast of feasts is over and that came to 45 Soles.
And we ordered way too much food.
Like we are bringing the main dish home.
At least over half of that.
So it was a lot of food.
That included the drink, that included the two plantain dishes, the main and the dessert.
And that came to 45 Soles which is about 13-14 US dollars.
So pretty cheap when you consider how much food we had.
And I have to admit this restaurant has massive portions so if you're coming here you're going
to want to come as a group and share your dishes.