Shine of the sun

Peru was like my promised land. I never had a chance to visit the country, but Peruvian culture has always been close to my heart. Since my high school years, it was on my top destination list, maybe just because of a dreamy picture of Machu Picchu. When I was studying conservation in Rome, my course coordinator was from Peru and the best cook in our international group was a friend from Peru. Later, I had the chance to meet the legendary personality Sylvio Mutal, an eminent figure of the Peruvian archaeology and conservation scene. Mutal was a charismatic man to my surprise, who happened to speak a rather old style of pompous but perfect Turkish. A real Istanbul gentleman of Jewish descent, he was born and raised in Istanbul but later in life, he ended up living in the Netherlands and Peru. He not only spoke several languages like a native, but also many dialects of Peruvian languages. We were all mesmerized by his intellectual speeches, and jokes he exchanged in seven or eight languages simultaneously. 

Later when I switched to food writing, my interest in Peru shifted its focus from architecture to food and the crazy interesting ingredients that came from this distant land. I was among the ones who discovered the virtues of quinoa before it became a craze in the culinary world, especially as a diet fad. From the heights of the Andes Mountains to the jungle simply named "Montaña," or to the arid Pacific coastline dotted with a handful of irrigated fertile oases, Peru is a diverse country home to many products that are commodities in our daily diet. Potatoes originated in this complex land; so did peanuts. There are almost 4,000 potato varieties that still exist in Peru, not to mention the 2,000 varieties of sweet potatoes. Before the introduction of wheat...