Cuy y Lomo: Fusion Verdadera

I am sick of uppity fusion cuisine. From my first meal at Ponzu during the dot-com boom to repeated disappointments at Betelnut, I just can't stand it. If I have to hear another person ooh and ah about the latest Roy's to open (I think there are 432 locations now), I will just have to lightly dust my head with panko crumbs and deep fry it in peanut oil. Basta!

The real betelnut.

For true fusion cuisine, we should look to Peru. My friend J is going there this weekend. I urged him to try cuy (guinea pig, a delicacy there) and a chifa (a Chinese restaurant, from the Mandarin words "chi fan", or "eat food"). Better yet, he should try eating cuy at a chifa.

In Peru, cuy is used in Chinese food because it is local and everywhere. Instead of pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp fried rice, why not cuy fried rice?

A picture of cuy to show you what it looks like.

A second picture to gross you out.

Another great example of true fusion is the popular Peruvian dish lomo saltado. The steamed rice, the stir fry technique, and soy sauce were all borrowed from the Chinese. The creator of lomo saltado did not create it to one-up his colleagues or as a gimmick to lure 30-something yuppies. He created it because it was tasty and required only locally available ingredients.

So what is my definition of true fusion cuisine? It's melding by necessity and proximity, not by forced creativity for the sake of innovation or profit. I think the Peruvians-- Chinese and non-Chinese alike-- have captured the spirit perfectly.

CKY