Try Peruvian Cuisine in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to try Peruvian cuisine in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about Peruvian cuisine

• discuss typical Peruvian foods

• use the passive voice and passive se

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
callejero	street
especial	special

examples
Las butifarras se venden en carritos callejeros. Butifarras are sold in street carts.
El cuy se asa en ocasiones especiales. Guinea pig is roasted on special occasions.

Adjective Phrase

Spanish	English
a la brasa	grilled

examples
El pollo a la brasa fue popularizado rápidamente. Grilled chicken was quickly popularized.

Adverb

Spanish	English
vigorosamente	vigorously

examples
Se mezcla la chicha morada vigorosamente. Chicha morada is mixed vigorously.

Nouns

Spanish	English
Arequipa	Arequipa
la brasa	hot coal
la capa	layer
el entrante	appetizer
la hoja	leaf
el, la inca	Inca
el japonés, la japonesa	Japanese man, Japanese woman
Lima	Lima
la miel	honey
la ocasión	occasion
la quinua	quinoa
la soya	soy

examples
El rocoto relleno se degusta en Arequipa. Stuffed rocoto is eaten in Arequipa.
Los anticuchos fueron cocinados en brasas. Anticuchos were cooked over hot coals.
La causa limeña se sirve en capas. Causa limeña is served in layers.

Culinary Terms

Spanish	English	Explanation
el ají de gallina	chicken aji	Ají de gallina is like a chicken chili stew that is often served with potatoes and rice.
la butifarra	butifarra	Butifarra—in Peru—refers to a ham sandwich with a special sauce, served on a roll.
la causa limeña	causa limeña	Causa limeña is a layered dish, with the top and bottom layers being potato, and a filling of a white meat like chicken.
la chicha morada	chicha morada	Chicha morada is a drink made from purple corn that has been boiled with other ingredients, such as pineapple peels and cinnamon.
el chupe de camarones	chupe de camarones	Chupe de camarones is a thick shrimp chowder.
las hojas de bijao	calathea leaves	Hojas de bijao are used to wrap juanes.
el juane	juane	Juanes are balls of rice with chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and spices. They’re wrapped and cooked in hojas de bijao.
la leche de tigre	leche de tigre	Leche de tigre is the citrus-based mixture that cures the fish used in ceviche. It can also be used on its own as a drink.
la ocopa	ocopa	Ocopa is a sauce with chili, onion, garlic, Peruvian black mint, and queso fresco.
la pachamanca	pachamanca	Pachamanca is a dish with meat and vegetables that is baked using hot stones
el picarón	picaron	Picarones are a squash and sweet potato doughnut.
el queso fresco	queso fresco	Queso fresco is a soft, uncured cheese.
el rocoto relleno	stuffed rocoto	Rocotos rellenos are peppers stuffed with ground beef, vegetables, and spices.
el suspiro limeño	suspiro limeño	Suspiro limeño is a dessert made with milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla topped with meringue.
el tiradito	tiradito	Tiradito is a raw fish dish that is covered in a spicy sauce.

Translating Food

You may have noticed in these lessons and in the table above that we used the same word in English and in Spanish to talk about certain foods. Why’d we do that? Think about some of your favorite foods, and we’re sure non-English terms will come up. Fan of bruschetta? How about pho? Did you have breakfast tacos today, or make a wrap with a flour tortilla? These are just a few examples of food-related loanwords from other languages.

Qué lío lo de los limones

¡Qué lío lo de los limones!(What a mess, this whole thing about lemons!) Did you know that limón(lemon, lime) doesn’t always mean lemon in the Spanish-speaking world? You can read all about this palabra liosa(complicated word) in Spanish in this article.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish Infinitive	English	Past Participle
aderezar	to dress	aderezado
asar	to roast	asado
cocer	to cook	cocido
influenciar	to influence	influenciado
marinar	to marinate	marinado
popularizar	to popularize	popularizado
rebozar	to cover in batter, to bread	rebozado
rellenar	to fill	rellenado
sazonar	to season	sazonado

The Passive Voice and the Passive Se in Spanish

• In sentences written in the active voice, the doer of an action is the subject.

• In sentences written in the passive voice, the receiver of an action is the subject.

In Spanish, the passive voice is generally used to talk about a person or object without making mention of whoever or whatever is performing the action on that person or object.

There are two ways of using the passive voice in Spanish: passive se constructions and—like in English—passives with ser(to be).

Passive se constructions are one way of using the passive voice in Spanish. Only transitive verbs (verbs that require a direct object) are used in passive se constructions.

Passive Voice Formula

In sentences in passive voice, the receiver of an action gets moved to the subject position. This is often done to move the focus from the doer to whatever it is that was done.

The following formulas are used to create the passive voice:

1. The Passive With Ser

The passive with ser is:

• ser + past participle (+ por[by] + agent)

Note that, like in English passives, we can mention who performed the action. To do so, we use the structure por + agent after the past participle.

For example:

examples
La mazamorra morada fue cocida lentamente. Mazamorra morada was cooked slowly.
El tiradito fue influenciado por los japoneses. Tiradito was influenced by the Japanese.

Gender and Number Agreement

The past participle in passive sentences must agree in gender and number with the subject of the passive sentence.

examples
La mazamorra morada fue cocida lentamente. Mazamorra morada was cooked slowly.
El tiradito fue influenciado por los japoneses. Tiradito was influenced by the Japanese.

2. Passive Se Formula

The passive se is always formed using the third person singular or plural of a verb. If whatever you're talking about is singular, the verb is singular; if whatever you're talking about is plural, the verb is plural:

• se + third person (singular/plural) verb + (singular/plural) noun

For example:

examples
La ocopa se sirvió como entrante. Ocopa was served as an appetizer.
El pescado se marina para el ceviche. Fish is marinated for ceviche.

You can learn more about the passive voice and passive se in these articles:

• Active vs. Passive Voice

• Passive "Se" in Spanish

Translation Alert

Note that both the passive voice and passive se are translated into English using the English passive voice. For example:

examples
Se mezcla la chicha morada vigorosamente. Chicha morada is mixed vigorously.
La chicha morada es mezclada vigorosamente. Chicha morada is mixed vigorously.
Los anticuchos fueron cocinados en brasas. Anticuchos were cooked over hot coals.
Se cocinaron los anticuchos en brasas. Anticuchos were cooked over hot coals.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Marco:

Me fascina la gastronomía peruana.

I'm fascinated by Peruvian cuisine.

Laura:

A mi también. ¿Has comido causa limeña?

Me too. Have you eaten causa limeña?

Marco:

No. ¿Cómo es?

No. What’s it like?

Laura:

La causa limeña se sirve en capas.

Causa limeña is served in layers.

Marco:

Interesante. ¿Probaste la chicha morada?

Interesting. Did you try chicha morada?

Laura:

Sí. ¿Sabías que la chicha morada se hace con maíz?

Yes. Did you know that chicha morada is made with corn.

Want to learn more about how to try Peruvian cuisine in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Travel Guide: Peru

• How to Sound like a Local in Peru

• Travel Guide: Lima