Lunch with Julie's parents

The other day Julie's parents, Hugo and Chava, invited me to come for lunch and to see the church in their neighborhood/district, Jesús María.  Their home has been in the family for nearly 100 years. It is a common style found in Lima; one level with tiled floors, a walled entrance with a small front yard, a number of open-air patios, a garden in the back with a couple trees, what at one time were four bedrooms, and a long narrow kitchen.  I wish I had thought to take pictures of their home.

The house was kept a bit dark to keep it cool the hot humid day we were having. The living room was inviting with some beautiful art on the wall.  I was most intrigued by what looked like an antique mirror from the early 20th century. There were photos of the family including one of Julie at her graduation, as well as some, religious art.

The dining room was bright and directly adjacent to an open patio that was also accessed from the entrance. The bright sun flooded the room, which glowed with the warm tones of the beautiful wood furniture, and the exquisite floor tile that had been there since the house was built.

Walking down this long corridor we walked through this beautiful old narrow kitchen.  It was classic with wonderful wooden cabinets. I did not even notice the appliances because I was so taken with the warmth (not the heat) of the kitchen.

We went into the small back garden which would be a perfect place to relax in the cool night air. There was a back building of sorts that housed two of the bedrooms, a bathroom, and an upper level room which could have been a studio or workshop.  A new 6-8 story building had just been built behind the house and it blocked some of the air flow they used to have when all of the houses were similar height.

When we sat down to lunch, Chava had prepared a feast of traditional Peruvian favorites. Almuerzo or lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day.  The meal started with dieta de pollo, a light chicken soup with thin noodles large chunks of white meat chicken and carrots.  In the picture below you see the three entrees and rice that were served to me. The one directly in front of me is ají de gallina, a stew of chicken with 2 types of the ají peppers and onion served over boiled slices of boiled potatoes. It was delicious with a nicely savory flavor. Ok, I mean it was perfectly salted for my taste. The next dish to my left was olluquito con pollo. Olluco is a small tuber that, when cooked like it was, had the slight texture and flavor of a turnip. The chicken thigh in the dish was perfectly cooked and full of the flavor of the herbs the spices in the dish.  Unfortunately, I am not sure what those are. The last big dish was a salad with a fried fish that may have been tilapia.  Compared to the other main dishes, this was light and bright.  In the picture where I am eating you will see a glass of juice. It was a cool refreshing jugo de carambola (aka star fruit).

It was a delightful meal. It was so nice to be invited into their home and share a meal with them.