Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/606819
wool naturally—dark green from the ch'illka leaf, yellow from the quico flower, orange from lichen, purple from dark "chicha" corn, and blue from the pepper- corn-like tara seed. Most amazing is the rich red derived from crushing cochineal bugs. Native to Peru, the bugs look like grey ash clinging to the cactus paddles on which they thrive. Though the co-op is set up to separate tourists from their cash, we were happy to hand over US$20 and $30 for gossamer alpaca scarves, warm woollen gloves and wraps from the women who made them. I later wished I'd bought one for all my friends. MORE SURPRISES Alejandro had two more surprises for us that morning. Down a long dirt road, past more quinoa fields, we found ourselves at the edge of a cliff overlooking thousands of terraced pools edged in what looked like ice. Salt! The Salinas de Maras, centuries old and wedged into a mountain valley, are fed by a single salty underground stream that's channelled into the shallow, individually owned pools. Crusty salt crystals form as the water evaporates. Reaching the bottom, we walked along the salty dikes then hit the gift shop. Of course you know what all my foodie friends are receiving for Christmas (please don't mention the scarves!). An hour later, we stood gazing at another national treasure, Moray, a series of concentric stone rings resembling an amphitheatre. Ingenious Incas may have constructed the site as an agricultural research station to study how vegetable and cereal crops adapt to different altitudes and ecosystems. A five-minute walk brought us to El Parador de Moray for a traditional lunch—a snack of deep-fried corn kernels, causa, a bright yellow mashed-potato cake stuffed with avocado, chicken or seafood, quinoa, roast pork and fish baked in salt. Peru's favourite aperitif, the Pisco Sour, is made from potent grape brandy (up to 96 proof ) shaken with an egg white, lime juice and sugar syrup and finished with a dash of Angostura bitters. Back in Cusco we stopped for a drink at the Museo del Pisco, where you can taste brandy made from different grapes and sample infusions like passion fruit, a personal favourite. Alejandro main- tains that one Pisco Sour is more than enough, two is dangerous and three is "not a good idea." Since you'll probably fly home via Lima, why not reserve a table at one of the world's great restaurants, Central in the Milaflores district. Chef Virgilio Martínez and his team source ingredients from across the country to create altitude-driven menus. Our 15-course dinner included limpets and algae from the Pacific (-5 metres), quinoa from the Low Andes (1,800 metres) and a bacteria called cushuro (2,900 metres). Dessert (1,050 metres) featured butter- scotch-flavoured lucuma fruit, cacao and edible clay. Martinez' food was equally strange and delicious, another high on this trip-of-a-lifetime. DREAMSCAPES FALL/ WINTER 2015 48 T R A V E L P L A N N E R Air Canada (aircanada.com) flies directly from Toronto to Lima. For more information on Peru, visit peru.travel. For guides and/or trip-planning advice, contact Viracocha Turismo Internacional (VTI) (viracocha.com.pe/portal/index.php/en/). For accommodation, Inkaterra (inkaterra.com) owns a number of hotels and jungle lodges. Also, consider the J.W. Marriott. Recommended dining venues include: Astrid & Gastón, Lima: astridygaston.com Central, Lima: centralrestaurante.com.pe/en El Parador de Moray, Cusco: cuscorestaurants.com/el-parador Maido by Mitsuharu, Lima: maido.pe/en DS LEFT: The most widely agreed theory of these mysterious Moray Agricultural Terraces of the Incas is they used to serve as an agricultural research station. Cynthia David BELOW: Foraged tubers and roots are creatively displayed at the Central Restaurant in Lima. Brick Martin Delgado