The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-05

Copyright, 1895, by Frank G. Carpenter)
LIMA, Peru, May 5.-The American min
lister and myself spent this morning in the
markets of Lima. We met at the market
house at a. m. and ate our diceuno at
little restaurant just off the main aisle.
Diceuno is what the Peruvians call their
first meal. 1t is taken on rising and con-
sists of two little pieces of toast and
cup of coffee or tea. The real breakfast Is
not taken until IL or - o'clock and dinner
does not come until 6 or in the evening.
The minister and myself are afflicted with
good American appetities and we pieced out
the meal with two punches of white grapes,
each of which was as big as your head,
the grapes themselves being as large as
damson plums. Our meal was most demo-
cratic one. The table was large, and we
had hardly taken our seats before an In
dian woman with broad brimmed Panama
hat coming we'll down over her bronzed
features sat down opposite us, and ordered
an ice cream which was served in cham
payne glass. Then pock-marked Peruvian
of the lower class took a seat at the table
for his chocolate and just as we were about
to leave a fat old negress wearing black
manta or shawl which covered the whole of
the upper part of her body, and all of her
head excepting her face, slid down into a
chair beside me- While we were eating we
were besieged by peddlers of various kinds,
from women who offered us lottery tickets
to men who had for sale waxen images of
the Virgin Mary dressed in the latest mod
ern styles. All about us were the queer
characters which make up the lower classes
of the Peruvian capital. There were cooks
by the hundreds buying their marketing for
the day. Some were Chinese some negroes
and many were Peruvians with the yellow
skins which show that they are a product
of the native Indians and the Spanish. There
were scores of women dressed all in black
with only their faces showing out of their
black shawls. There were many market
women in calico dresses wearing straw hats,
and not few queer people from the noun
tains who looked about with eyes of wonder
at their first sight of the great city. The
crowd numbered thousands, and 1t was the
busiest crowd / have seen in Peru.
A LAND OF FAT THINGS.
Peru is a land OF fat things. There are
really so many wonderful products here
that / hesitate to describe them for fear
may not be believed. What would you think
of string beans as long as your arm. We
saw lots of them at the vegetable stands.
They were tied up in punches and hung upon
poles. We saw potatoes as yellow as gold.
These are the papas amarillas of Peru,
which are bright yellow when cooked. We
saw sweet potatoes of many kinds some of
which were as big as the yams of America.
Then there were quantities of yucca, a tuber
which grows about two feet long, and
which is as big around as a baseball club.
1t is not unlike the potato, but the flesh is
moro transparent, waXy and jelly-like. This
is one of the chief foods of Peru. We
roasting ears at nearly every vegetable
stand and in the grain markets handled va
rietes of corn which / have never seen al
home. Some of the corn was as black as ink
and another kind was of light yellow,
grains almost as big as a Lima bean. These
two varieties are so meay that you can
make flour of them by pounding them with
a stone. They come from the mountain
farms and, to a. great extent, form the food
of that part of Peru. We saw squashes and
melons of all kinds. Many of the vegetables
L could not understand and the fruits em-
braced those which are grown in the trop-
les, as well as apples, peaches and pears.
The apples were not good, however, and
most Of the peaches we saw were of the
clingstone kind The best fruits are the
grapes, the chremoya, which is as big as
ice cream; the palta, which is eaten as
salad or an appetizer, with vinegar, salt and
pepper, and which has a flesh not unlike
that of stiff butter; the blue and white figs,
which grow in all the coast valleys, and
bananas of many kinds and different varie-
ties of oranges, lines and lemons. Then they
have here guavas, pomegranates, tunas, the
fruit of the cactus, and olives, which are
picked in such a way that when they come
to the table they are black and soft rather
than green and solid, like the olives we eat.
QUEER PERUVIAN DISHES.
On the whole, the living here is very good.
You will not find in Washington or New
York a better meat and fish market than
that of Lima The meats are largely sold
by women and the women seem to have
monopolized the milk, meat and vegetable
trade of this city. The steaks and chops
are very good and you can buy a little kid
or half dozen guinea pigs for a tri1e.
The Peruvians are very fond of kids, and
guinea pigs are delicacy not to be sneered
at. They taste much like young pigeons or
very tender squirrels. They are raised and
fattened for eating all about here and near
ly every farmer keeps guinea pig pen.
Another queer dish is fish cooked by put
ting cold lemon juice on 1t. 1t is really raw
lSn served with lefilOlI juice, but the lemon
has much the same effect on the flesh of
the fish as boiling, and have a number of
| times smacked my lips over what [ thought
was the most delicious boiled fish I had
ever eaten, to find that it was fish a la
| serviche-that is, raw fish and lemon. The
fish of this coast are delicious. They are
of nearly every kind from the sole TO the
corbina, which is a very large and sweet
heshed fish not unlike the bluetish of the
Atlantic, though of a more delicious flavor.
/ tried the Peruvian oysters at the Ma.
tlonal Club to-day. They were brought in
parboped on the half shell. l did not like
them.
There is no place that 1 have vet visited
which has so much pepper and potatoes
upon it's tables as ] find here II is said
that the Peruvians eat more pepner than
salt They serve il with nearly every dish
and you always find little dish of All
pronounced ah-he), a sort of red nenner
paste beside your plate ready for use as
you may fancy. Papas con ali is favor
lite dish made of potatoes and pepper with
sauce of tomatoes and eggs. 1t Is as bot
as fire. but not bad to eat. Papas riena 4
made of potatoes mashed and then mixed