Take elaborate and endemic flavors from the Amazon and Andes, add fresh Pacific seafood, and pass it over to an innovative generation of fusion chefs. Welcome to the most unique, gastronomic scene on the planet. It is internationally celebrated, yet impossible to replicate outside of Peru, so you must dive head first into the flavors during this culinary tour. Over these ten days, you will experience local markets, chef-led workshops, fine dining, Pisco tasting, Nikkei fusion cuisine, ceviche,...
Customizable Itinerary
Day 1
Lima - 12-Course Culinary Introductions at Astrid and Gaston
In Lima there will a bit of hustle and bustle. Here, colonial grandeur meets with towering apartment blocks and Pacific waves. At first glance, it will seem like an odd place for a culinary capital, especially with all the honking on the streets. Fresh seafood comes in from the Pacific each morning, and some of it is used for the city’s most famous lunchtime dish, ceviche, which is raw fish cured in lemon juice. Regular flights will land in the capital from across the country, bringing flavors from different Amazonian regions as well as high up in the Andes.
Tomorrow you will start sampling raw ingredients in Lima’s markets. This tour’s introduction will come at a restaurant that celebrates diversity in its widest form. Twelve courses will be served on the tasting menu and these tend to change each day, reflecting what has come in from the market that morning. You will not recognize many of the flavors, but you will be only tasting and enjoying. Over the next few days you will separate individual components, but for now there will be nothing to do but indulge on the final fusion that Peru creates.
What's Included:
Day 2
Lima - Peruvian Market Ingredients and Ceviche Workshop
Day 3
Lima - Peruvian Cuisine Cooking Class and Lima City Tour
Day 4
Cusco - City Walking Tour and Dinner at the Museum of Pre-Inca Art
Day 5
Cusco - Andean, Incan, and Colonial Flavors on a Cusco Street Food Tour
Day 6
Urubamba Valley - The Sacred Valley and Home-Style Quechua Cooking Experience
Day 7
Aguas Calientes - A Beautiful Afternoon in Machu Picchu
Day 8
Lima - Pisco Tasting Class and Amazon Fusion Dinner
Day 9
Lima - Exploring the World of Nikkei Cuisine
Day 10
Lima - Departure
Trip Highlights
- Dine on countless courses with reservations at some of Latin America’s most renowned restaurants
- Learn to cook local Peruvian dishes during a cooking class in Lima and a home-style food experience in the Urubamba Valley
- Climb the steps to the wonder of Machu Picchu
- Explore local markets and raw ingredients from both the Amazon and Andes
- Indulge on excellent seafood at various lunchtime restaurants and during a ceviche making workshop
- Spend a day discovering the world of Nikkei cuisine, a Japanese Peruvian fusion
- Explore Peru’s classic cocktail during a Pisco tasting class
- Discover Cusco on a street food tour that connects Andean, colonial, and Incan flavors
Detailed Description
To the international scene, Peruvian cuisine is part wonder and part myth. Although widely celebrated across the globe, it is very difficult to taste authentic Peruvian food outside of the country. One reason for this is because part of the culinary secret lies in the raw ingredients, which are both inimitable and incredibly fresh. For example, fresh seafood comes in from the Pacific Ocean each morning. Nowhere but in Peru can you have fresh Amazon, Andean, and Pacific ingredients every single day.
The flavors they can create are also very unique, especially in the hands of Peru’s latest generation of chefs. With so many different ingredients around, you must be highly creative to make it as a chef here. Those most celebrated have found international acclaim, creating menus that change each day, not just each season. Some have helped create entire new styles of cooking, such as the Japanese-Peruvian fusion known as Nikkei. Others have brought French or Italian training to this great pantry of ingredients. There really is no gastronomic scene like it.
Mixing markets and restaurants, cooking workshops and local fusions, this private tour will celebrate why Peru is now a world-famous food lover’s destination. You will explore markets and sample rare Amazonian and Andean flavors. Dinner reservations will take you to Latin America’s finest restaurants, and workshops will show you how to make Peruvian style ceviche, Pisco, home-style Quechua cooking, and old-world Peruvian staples. There will be a day that is dedicated to Nikkei, and in between it all, there will be a day spent at Machu Picchu. Cusco and the Urubamba Valley will provide cultural highlights as well in order to contrast the neighborhoods and UNESCO World Heritage of Lima. This is a food lover’s tour and over the ten days you will find an incredible delicacy and lightness to all the food.
Lima must be the focus of any Peruvian culinary tour. It has Latin America’s most celebrated dining scene and the most eclectic range of flavors. You will spend the first three days here, with a 12-course dinner at Astrid & Gaston, which will be your culinary introduction. You will then explore a local market and make ceviche on day two. Classic country staples will be the focus of day three. Days four and five will be spent in Cusco, which is a city of rich cultural highlights and a harmonious mix of culinary influence. You can cook and eat Quechua style in the Urubamba Valley on day six before day seven takes you to Machu Picchu. As you finish back in Lima, you will have an Amazon fusion dinner, a Pisco tasting class, and day nine full of wit Nikkei cuisine. This tour will have you enjoying the food so much that when you are searching for Peruvian food back at home, you will understand why the country’s food can only truly be tasted where you have just traveled. Consider learning more about the Peru tour companies whom we partner with, who seek to create a customized experience just for you.
Starting Price
$11,400 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
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