Peru: Zelin Shen (Food in Tarapoto)

Program: SFS Biodiversity & Development in the Andes-Amazon, Spring

Tarapoto, despite not being a large city, offers a diverse range of food options, in addition to its local delicacies. From Japanese to Korean and Chinese, all with their own local twists. Take a very common dish, for example, Chifa. As someone who grew up in China and speaks fluent Mandarin, when I first heard the word Chifa, I thought it was a joke. As it is the word 炒饭, which means “fried rice” in China, but is pronounced differently in Spanish. Yet the longer I spend here in Peru, the more Chifa I eat, the more I start to see and understand the Chinese influence here, and start to appreciate it. After some research, I found that the dish Chifa originated in the late 19th – early 20th century, from Chinese immigrants. Adapting their cooking style to local culture and ingredients, the dish Chifa was born and spread across the country for its unique taste and ease.

Adapting their cooking style to local culture and ingredients, the dish Chifa was born and spread across the country for its unique taste and ease.

We even had an opportunity to cook Chifa hands-on with our center chefs!

Something I will for sure miss the most when I leave Peru is the granadilla. It is a fruit from the same family as passion fruit, with a similar appearance and lovely scent, yet it tastes significantly better. It’s soft texture with a sweet but never sour taste, so much better than any passion fruit I have ever tasted. Unfortunately, this fruit is commonly consumed only in Latin America and is rarely found in the United States.