Would you like fries with that? What to eat in Cusco, Peru.

Do you want to know what to eat in Cusco, Peru? Fries. All the fries.

I love fries. I really do. A good fry is heaven. Crispy on the outside, velvety soft on the inside, a touch of salt. Perfection.

But in Peru they are always just greasy and limp. Disappointing.

And, when eating in Cusco, Peru, fries come with everything. Everything.

I never thought I’d get sick of fries. But I also don’t need them twice a day…

 

What to eat in Cusco, Peru. Including all the fries you could ever want.

A two-course lunch of soup and fried fish with rice, salad, and beans for 4 soles (about $1.50) at San Pedro Market. Note: I could have gotten fries instead of beans.

 

Beef with fried rice and fries. They have some weird combinations.

 

Lomo saltado: a Peruvian stir fry of beef, onions, and tomatoes (this version also had mushrooms and peppers) served with rice and, you guessed it, fries.

 

Aji Gallina: spicy Peruvian creamed chicken. Mixed with fries.

 

Arroz mixto at San Pedro Market. Sausage, avocado, runny egg, salad, plantain, rice, and, yup, fries.

 

Chicharrón, because who doesn’t love crispy, fatty, deep-fried pork? This didn’t come with fries. But there was a potato.

 

Brownie and hot chocolate at the Chocolate Museum Cusco. Because there was a chocolate museum in Cusco, just down the street from my hostel. Luckily, no chocolate-dipped fries.

 

Trout ceviche. Which didn’t come with fries but did come with sweet potato. And giant corn.

 

And, of course, Cuy. Which is guinea pig. And guinea pig is a thing to eat in Peru. You’ll find it at the markets and in restaurants. I even saw cages of the animals, ripe for cooking, while making stops trekking the Colca Canyon. And is a weird thing to eat: the skin was a little too crispy and the meat too hard to get into. I’m not sure if it was the best cuy in Cusco, but I’m also not sure I’d ever want to try other guinea pigs to find out. But it was at least worth trying for the story. Or so I will tell myself.